Precious Treasure of the Uchiha
by Yuna Yami Mouto
Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?
1. Chapter 1

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

I hissed as I got another scratch from sharp claws and my current opponent howled in delight like a dog. I jumped away from him and tried to make the hand seals for the fire technique my father taught me before he died but he was faster and I grunted as he slammed into me, sending me to the ground. Not far away, I saw my companions having similar difficulties. They had not expected the clans to make a move like this, nor this soon. They were not ready, not that I blamed them. I should be stronger by now! I shouldn't need to be protected!

I managed to shove dog breath away from me with enough force to make him skid a few feet away, but he was on his feet in seconds. I did a little back flip and landed on my own feet, ready for the fight that I knew was far from over, no matter how tired we were. The guy grinned, showing off his canines and I grit my own teeth, my breaths coming out in heavy pants. I had been using my eyes too much and I have been relying on them to make my body move faster, but that had only put undue stress on my system and I had tired out faster. If this didn't end soon, we would all get killed.

Well, I will, as my companions were unable to die. Yeah, they were immortal, imagine that. They were warriors who were granted immortality so they could protect the world from evil spirits and creatures that still roamed the earth or were summoned by foolish people. They called themselves shinobi, the order having started and been formed out of great ninja villages centuries ago. My three companions were immortals for over a century now, but they were still struggling from these still mortal shinobi. Immortality was something a warrior choses at one point in their life, not something that was promised by entering the order of shinobi. Or so I was told. So far, there were over a thousand Immortals created every decade, as many strong warriors either feared death or wanted revenge, though there were those who simply wanted to live or to complete something. It was irreversible, so the last reason was a little stupid to choose immortality for. What would they do later?

I grunted again as I blocked yet another hit. This was getting ridiculous. We didn't stand a chance because of the sheer numbers against us. It was four against twelve shinobi, two of them already immortals and two from a very strong clan that has been a rivaling clan to my own for centuries. No one knew why they had such dislike for us, or we for them, but it was simply there and we couldn't stop it now, as it was apparently too late. I don't know what they want from me but this was not an isolated occurrence. They were not the first to go after me. No one at the HQ wants to tell me why, but I could make the educated guess that it's because of the clan.

My family's clan has been around so long that its roots remain unknown. The only other clan that was as old as mine was all but wiped out a long time ago, only one remaining, although there were members from a sister clan that would continue down the blood. As for my clan ... I am alone. Everyone I have ever known and loved was taken from me in one night. Well, not really. My nii-san had survived along with me, and it was only thanks to him that I'm still breathing. However, he died in a plane accident, shrouded in mystery to this day, three years ago, when I was thirteen.

My life, which had already been hard as an orphan, only got worse from then on. I found out that my nii-san was an active part of this organization called the Shinobi Alliance. They were the organization I was talking about earlier with one leader, the best in a generation, called the Hokage. Godaime was currently the leader of the Shinobi Alliance, a woman named Senju Tsunade. She was the member of that other clan as old as mine. The organization took me in after they found out what happened to my brother. His body was never found, or any other body from that plane accident, so I never felt as if I had said goodbye to him, even with that beautiful funeral they had helped me make. I had stared at the empty coffin and wondered how to go on without that one last look at my precious nii-san's face.

I never let go and my heart to this day hurts for my older brother but it would seem I won't hurt for much longer. It would appear that today is my day to die and join my family in the great world beyond. I just don't have the strength to continue fighting for much longer.

One of my companions, Sai, was thrown at me and the both of us skidded ten feet across hard asphalt, gaining new bruises and cuts. I heard a snap and Sai hrunting and wondered just what the gell he broke and how screwed up we were now. Sai was a far better fighter than the other shinobi that appeared my age. He was part of an ANBU organization within the Shinobi Alliance known as Root and they were rumored to be some of the best fighters in the Alliance. I don't know much about them, or Sai, for that matter, but I do know that Sai is startlingly similar to me in appearances except he is way paler, his hair is close to his head and his eyes aren't like mine. Besides, he often likes to dress strange, making many people think he was either weird or gay. He used to have a guy he considered an older brother but he died on an assignment before the two of them could become Immortals. Sai joined Root after that and no one knows his history since.

The other member of the three shinobi currently guarding me and getting the snot beaten out of us was a girl named Haruno Sakura. She was a medic trained by Tsunadd herself, the best healer in the world, both present and past. She had pink hair and emerald eyes, always dressed in red and often carrying around black gloves with her. Why? Because she has amazing brute strength that can destroy rocks the size of a skyscraper with only one punch. She became a shinobi when she was twelve and trained until she turned sixteen, when she almost died and her master turned her Immortal, since Sakura had expressed a desire to forever be a part of the shinobi world. She was assigned to look after me, along with Sai, a few moths ago, as new transfer students at my high school.

The third member was the oldest. He was known as Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin, a group consisting of him, Tsunade-sama and one other guy, Orochimaru, who I won't talk about now. The three of them were known and feared far and wide for their amazing skills and all of their students became famous shinobi. He was currently being attacked by the Immortals, a mother and daughter from the same clan as the guy fighting me, and he was holding up barely. Apparently, one of them had stabbed him with some injection and whatever it was, it was messing with his body real bad. Sakura was successfully being kept away from him by the two from my clan's rivals, so we couldn't help him.

We were at our limits and it won't be long before we're finished off. We were running out of options and out of energy. Unless we get some backup in the next few minutes, we're goners. I don't know if they'll do anything to me but the dog breaths wanted me for experimentation while those two were sent to kill me and they made a deal that the dog lovers can keep me as long as they kill me after they got everything they wanted from me. The sick grin on the mother's face scared me. I was not in for an easy death by her hands.

"Sasuke-kun, you should run," Sai said from my left and I looked over to see that he had broken his right arm, meaning he won't be able to fight, as he uses some ninjutsu by drawing things and bringing them to life. It was pretty cool but I would always prefer fighting head on. "We won't be able to hold out any longer."

"I know but I'm not leaving." No way in hell was I going to run and soil the name and honor of my clan. No way in hell was I going to disappoint my nii-san and run like a coward.

"This isn't the time to be prideful, brat!" Jiraiya yelled when he landed beside us with a grunt. "You need to get the fuck out of here before they kill you." His two opponents were on him as soon as he got to his feet.

"Damn it!" I cursed as I scrambled to my feet when I saw my own opponent charging at me like the beast he was with his partner, a beast clone or something. I don't know enough about it all to be able to tell if it was ninjutsu or a henge. I barely dodged him but it put me further away from Sai and Jiraiya and now I was all alone. "Where is Kakashi when you need him!?"

The dog lover slammed into me and I went flying into the air, landing hard on my left arm, hearing a crack. I cried out as my arm was broken and the kunai I was holding clattered to the ground noisily. My three companions' heads snapped around and I distantly heard them calling my name through a fog in my mind. The brunet I was fighting stood a few feet away from me, an animalistic grin on his savage looking face.

"You know, it's a good thing that the experiments can be done after death, too. I _really_ feel like spilling some Uchiha blood tonight." And with a roar, he and his beast clone started spinning, their claws out, so fast that they resembled a giant, living drill that moved too fast for me to get out of the way. All other fights stopped and I heard three voices yell out "SASUKE!" All I could look at was the fast approaching killing blow.

Before it connected, I saw a flash of fire from the corner of my eyes and then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

 _Twelve hours back..._

 _He was four again. He knew this day. It was the day his parents lost him in the big amusement park in another city. He remembered crying as his little heart was gripped with fear. Where were his otou-san and okaa-san? More importantly, where was his_ nii-san _!? Nii-san would always protect him, he promised! But where were they? Was he ever going to see them again? How he regretted telling his kind and loving okaa-san he wanted to walk on his own instead of holding her had like always. But he was a big boy and his otou-san had looked proud at his in-da-panden-se!_

 _But now he was lost and afraid! All he could do was cry! He didn't know anyone here and no one seemed to care that there was a little boy crying right in front of them. And that only made him cry more. Why won't somebody help him?_

 _Suddenly, he felt a shadow fall over him and he looked up just as the older boy crouched down in front of him. He was older than nii-san (10) and taller, too, but he was shorter than okaa-san. He thought the stranger was very pretty. He didn't look anything like anyone in his family. He was like the sun!_

 _"Hey, there. Are you lost?" The voice was deep but gentle, melodic and he felt himself relax. He nodded and the stranger smiled a small smile. "Would you like me to help you find your otou-san and okaa-san."_

 _He nodded again with a sniff. "And my nii-san." He will always seek out nii-san first because nii-san was protection and safety and warmth. He always felt treasured around nii-san. But this stranger was looking at him with the same affection he saw in nii-san's eyes and that made him feel as if he were with his nii-san again. He liked this boy._

 _The smile stretched further at the words. "Right, and your nii-san. Let's go," he extended his hand and the little boy took it without hesitation. He could hear his parents' voices to stay away from strangers but this boy didn't feel like a stranger. He felt like home and family and safety so he couldn't be a stranger. Nii-san always told him to follow his gut feeling and had thought this was it._

 _"Are you an angel, mister stranger?" The little boy asked and it got him a surprised laugh from his now guide._

 _"What makes you think that?"_

 _"Because angels are real pretty and nice and have gold around their heads!" He answered, remembering the few pictures of angels he saw and the things his brother told him about them when he asked. "And they help and protect people."_

 _It got him another melodious laugh from the older boy. "Would you like me to be an angel?"_

 _The little boy nodded, even as he caught the first glimpse of his brother's head up ahead. "Yeah, but only my and my nii-san's angel!" He always shared with his nii-san like his nii-san shared with him._

 _The wonderful laugh sounded again and a tanned hand patted his head fondly. "I'll see what I can do about it with the higher ups, ne?" The boy beamed up at his companion with a small blush. The older one was_ really _pretty when he smiled. "Now run along, I think that's your family there." The boy looked and indeed, there were his otou-san, okaa-san and his nii-san! He took off without even looking at the stranger, kind of hoping he would follow to meet his parents and brother. His nii-san saw him first and took him in his secure arms, then their parents were surrounding their two sons. He felt them look up and he saw that they were looking at where the stranger was still standing, but the smile on his face was heartbreaking._

 _His brother opened his mouth to call out to the stranger-_

 _BEEP!_ BEEP! BEEP!

Uchiha Sasuke opened his black eyes when he heard the annoying beeping sound of his alarm clock at 7 in the morning. He groaned as he punched the damned contraption with a pale fist before running that same hand through his hair. He didn't feel like getting up but he'll have to. He has school in an hour and he has to get ready.

But ... _'That dream again ... Why do I always have it again and again?'_ He's been having that same dream at odd times over the years, ever since the day it happened. It was a lot more frequent when he was younger, the most so right after the tragic night in which his whole _clan_ was killed except his brother and him. But it started appearing less and less and since the day he turned fourteen, almost an entire year since his _brother's_ death, the dream stopped all together. He thought it was his childish mind trying to hold on to his parents and brother, but that was not so. He was still holding on to his brother yet the dream didn't reappear until now, almost two years later. Sasuke sighed and forced himself to move when the chill started getting to him.

It was late September and it would seem that this year's winter will come in early, so the autumn itself was rather cold. The summer hadn't been that hot, either, but Sasuke didn't mind. It just meant he would get more training done. If the day was cooler, it meant that only at noon was it dangerous to be out in the sun. He used the summer well and gad managed to learn quite a few new techniques. Too bad Kakashi had to leave on the 1st September or else he would have made the pervert teach him more.

He got out of bed and did his morning exercises and routine before getting a light breakfast and going out. He liked walking to and back from school as it was extra exercise and the weather wasn't that bad. It wasn't far and the walk relaxed him. Besides, it gave him the opportunity of taking down any stray spirits or other such malicious creatures that loved making mayhem for humans. It was a sure way of income, since the Shinobi Alliance usually paid their warriors for missions to do this. Any stragglers that were caught in free time were paid a small bonus. And Sasuke had become of the age where he can join the Alliance as an active member this summer. They all had great expectations of the last Uchiha, the legendary Itachi's little brother.

Itachi was always special in all ways. He was a genius, a prodigy, even by their clan's standards. He was so good that he became an officially active shinobi when he was ten and three years later, they had to accept him into the elite, he was that good. He still trained hard but he learned fast and soon he was known as the shinobi that never got injured. He was loved, hated, looked up to and envied by many but he didn't care. He only did what was necessary to keep the steady income until he turned sixteen and could officially take back their clan's compound from the Alliance. He managed it and they lived there for a few years, when he suddenly died in a plane accident while going on an undercover mission.

Sasuke got back the compound this summer on his sixteenth birthday.

By the time he got to his school, there were already a few girls there, all giggling as soon as they saw him. He glared at them, as they were his rather big fan club, but they just started arguing over whom he was looking at. He sneered in disgust before continuing on into the school, shaking off a redhead known as Uzumaki Karin - one of his more aggressive fans that was ready to be glued to him for days on end if someone didn't pry her off - that had attached herself to his arm and ignoring Yamanaka Ino when she started chattering from his left. They were the more dangerous fangirls, as they were both from the Shonobi Alliance, from famous clans that have existed since before the end of the ninja era. Karin was even the head of her clan, but that was only because all the other members had died other than her and one guy who was the Alliance's enemy. Still, the Uzumaki Clan was the sister clan of the Senju so she alone had a lot of influence in her grubby little hands. Not nearly as much as Sasuke will have now that he was legal by shinobi rights and he can join the Council of the Clans as the representative of the Uchiha Clan. Things will change after tomorrow, which will be the first meeting held that he will attend. He was actually kind of excited.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." A familiar female voice said and Sasuke looked to his right, greeted by Sakura's bright smile. He knew her for less than a month but he liked her enough to consider her one of his only friends, along with her partner, Sai, who was now walking to his left with a strange book for the socially awkward people. Sai was a bit strange like that. In Root, they were taught that they don't exist as anything but weapons, an old ideology Danzo had taken from ninjas. As a result, the warriors of Root knew nothing about how to act around normal people and often said stupid things. Sai was at least trying, but Sasuke sometimes had to wonder, as the guy seemed to enjoy pissing people off. Maybe he was wrong, but oh well.

"Morning."

"Are you ready for the math test today?"

"Yeah." Sakura didn't seem offended by his one worded answers as she had gotten to know him well enough that he wasn't exactly the most talkative person in the world. He wasn't always as quiet as he was now but it was actually an Uchiha trait not to talk so much. There were rare few who spoke as much as the rest of the world.

"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that Jiraiya-sama finally got word from Kakashi-sensei. He found whatever it is that he was looking for and he should be back in a few days. Maybe we could train together when he comes back?" Sakura asked in a friendly manner and Sasuke nodded with the tiniest smile. Sakura was actually the only girl he knew who _wasn't_ crushing on him. She often gave off that vibe but she had told him straight to his face that she might find him handsome but that wasn't enough for her to fall in love. She thought their personalities weren't good enough for lovers but they could be friends, if Sasuke wanted. Sasuke liked her ever since and they were now very close friends, despite the cold shoulder he had given her at the beginning by thinking she was as air-headed as the other girls. She was also Kakashi's former student and they trained together every weekend. She was a strong kunoichi and could teach him a lot.

"That would be nice. Would you like to join us, Sai?" The paler of the two black haired boys looked startled but smiled and nodded. They rounded a corner and nearly ran into two white eyed, pale teens that were standing and talking there. The male one of the pair turned around at glared at them while the girl just fidgeted behind her cousin.

They were Hyuuga Neji and his year younger cousin, Hinata, the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan, the rivals of the Uchiha. Neji was actually in the same year as them as he didn't want Hinata to be alone without proper protection, so he and Sasuke always competed in grades and scores, where Sasuke always won, much to Hyuuga's annoyance. Sasuke even beat him at the elections for class and student-body president, not that Sasuke had even competed for that. He had been just as annoyed as the brunet that he had won. Neji was a genius by his clan's standards, too. He was a shinobi of great skill, but the Hyuuga barely recognized him as anything due to him being born in the branch family. Sasuke didn't understand that, as in the Uchiha Clan, all were treated as equals, even those who _married_ into the family.

Hinata was shy and blushed around everyone for almost everything. She had short black hair with a bluish-purplish tint to it and pale skin. She had a great body but she was too shy to show it when she wasn't wearing her school uniform. If anyone asked her out, she fainted before she could answer. It didn't help much that Neji's overprotectiveness was an overkill.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke greeted like he always did. The only thing he personally had against Neji was that he could be a real ass when he wants to be. He didn't care why their clans hated each other and since he was the last one, he figured there was no need to keep up pretenses of hatred from his side, either. But Neji was just oh so easy to hate when he acted all arrogant and stuck up his nose at everyone.

"Uchiha'" came the cold reply before he took his cousin's hand and walked away. "Let's go, Hinata-sama."

"H-hai," the girl said even as she waved to the three. They just stared after them and shook their heads. The Hyuuga were really weird sometimes.

00000

"Is the plan set?" A brunet with a big dog asked the two white eyed teens and the oldest of the three scowled.

"Yes, but let it be known that Hinata-sama and I were _forced_ into this by our clan's elders."

Inuzuka Kiba shrugged at Neji, not really caring. "Sure, but no one will care. Besides, if we end that cursed clan's existence now, we'll rid the world of many troubles. My Ma says it's for the best if that clan's gone for good."

"There will be many displeased with this course of action." The long haired seventeen year old insisted.

"But they won't be able to do anything as it will already be done and over."

Neji growled in disgust at the sadistically happy grin on the other's face and pushed Hinata more behind him. "I have said what needs to be said, Inuzuka-san. Don't speak to us, ever, after it is over."

"Yeah, yeah." Kiba threw at their retreating backs, the grin on his red painted face making him look savage. He patted his huge dog on the head. "Go and tell Ma and Sis the good news, Akamaru. We need to be prepared for tonight."


	3. Chapter 3

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Sasuke groaned for who knows what time that day when he saw Jiraiya, a man with lightly tanned skin, long white hair and a giant scroll hanging at the small of his back, standing in front of the school and waving at him, Sakura and Sai. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been waving around a big banner that read their names in big black letter for all to see and gossip about. He heard Sakura do the same but Sai's smile just got more strained and rather fake. Very few could tell the difference but Sasuke has been forced to spend a month with these two so he could tell. It helped that he had incredibly sharp eyes.

When they walked up to the Sannin, Jiraiya swooped in and drew Sasuke into a big, manly bear hug. Apparently, he has been a family friend since over four hundred or more years ago. He didn't stick around long or frequently, as a place couldn't hold him for long because he _loved_ traveling, but he did visit every decade or so. However, ever since the massacre of his clan, Jiraiya had started visiting Sasuke and his older brother every other month. When Itachi died in the plane crash, Jiraiya finally settled down and stayed in New Konoha.

New Konoha was now actually a part of Tokyo, closer to the inlands than the sea and facing towards the old direction of the ninja village the place was named after. Konoha was the village founded by an Uchiha and a Senju over four hundred years ago, as part of the Fire Country, one of the great five big nations. The Senju was the first Hokage, as the Uchiha had been untrusting of the other ninja clans that were to be a part of the village. Instead, the Uchiha and his clan became the protectors of the village and the Hokage, something like a foundation for the first and original ANBU in the next few decades. During the WWI, the five great nations had to unite to survive and there was an agreement that the great five ninja villages will be burned to the ground as a sign of trust and loyalty between them. The villages did indeed burn, or so the textbooks said, but Jiraiya had told Sasuke that the shinobi had simply used a genjutsu to make it appear so and that they have simply hidden their villages even better than before. However, they had to leave them, so the great five villages moved to become parts of big cities.

Konohagakure's ninja found their place in Tokyo, Sunagakure's in Kyoto, Amegakure in Nagoya, Kirigakure's in Aomori, Iwagakure in Fukuyama and many of the smaller villages in other places. Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and Earth Countries all became part of modern Japan and were destroyed of all identity as anything but in WWII. Rarely anyone could find their way back to their old villages, as the terrain had completely been changed. Not even Jiraiya had ever even once stumbled upon a village again. The ninja world was as good as dead, especially when a few smaller villages died out.

But the shinobi stayed. Many were Immortal so they taught the new generations how to fight. The ninja arts became shinobi arts. The training ninja once went through was the normal training any shinobi has to go through. Ninja secrets were now that of shinobi. Ninja clans were shinobi clans. Many would say that shinobi is just an older way of saying ninja and that they mean the same thing, but they don't. Not anymore. Shinobi were people who may or may not become Immortals one day. They were protectors of this modern world because many ninja were left enraged with the disrespect their many sacrifices for their homeland received. So they left those they considered responsible traps that allowed all sorts of summoning spirits and creatures, known simply as kuchiyose, to make chaos. Those who escaped the shinobi taught their children to do the same, to hate those blissfully ignorant ordinary people who will never know or care for the sacrifices ninja have made throughout history for them.

The end of the ninja period was far more painful than the samurai period.

"So, Sasuke, how goes life these days?" The white haired man asked, ignoring the stares his usual, archaic outfit got. He was old and he didn't care as to how these modern youngsters viewed him.

"As well as it can. I hear Kakashi will be back soon so I can continue my training."

"Bah, why do you always insist on Kakashi training you? I'm far more experienced and knowledgeable!" The Sannin protested and Sakura sweat dropped while Sasuke shrugged the arm still around his shoulders off.

"Because he has one of my family's eyes and he could teach me a lot."

"Kakashi himself doesn't know much about it. If that's what you hope to learn from him, you're better off on your own."

"Are you saying you know more about the Sharingan than someone who actually has it?" Sasuke asked, arching a brow and letting his black eyes turn red, one eye having two black comas, the other one, only to have Jiraiya push his head down, messing up his hair.

"Brat, are you crazy!? I told you not to do that where ordinary people can see you!"

Sasuke glared, eyes once again black, and pushed off the hand on his head. "It's not as if they would really _see_ anything! They'd think it was their minds or light playing tricks on them!"

"And what if another shinobi sees? They'd come right after you to kill or kidnap you! No one should know you awakened that ability." The Immortal man grumbled at the last Uchiha. "You should know by now how many want the Sharingan either in their possession or gone all together. Your family has been hated for centuries, feared for their incredible gifts. The Uchiha-"

"Just ... shut up. I don't want to talk about my family." Sasuke said with a dismissive wave of his hand but his voice was glacier cold. Even after six years since _it_ had happened, Sasuke could not let go and move on.

It had been an ordinary day in the Uchiha compound. Everyone was going about their day as usual, no one ever expecting the tragedy that would happen that very night. Itachi, fourteen at the time, had woken an eight year old Sasuke early so they could go train and then go to the fair that was in town at the time. They had had breakfast with their parents before Sasuke all but dragged his older brother out of the house and then their family's property, all the while chattering about it - something _very_ uncharacteristic for the Uchihas - or greeting their many, many relatives. Like in the village, the Uchiha were given immense grounds for their large clan, covering several blocks of New Konoha. They were the largest and most prestigious clan in all of the shinobi world.

 _Were_ , as in past tense.

Because while the two brothers were out, a mysterious group came to their family home and killed all of their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, not to mention their father and mother. Sasuke himself had almost been killed had Itachi not stopped and killed one of the murderers when Sasuke had ran towards their mother's body. Itachi had managed to kill half their group somehow. Sasuke doesn't know how. The memories were too hazy as he had fainted in emotional exhaustion as soon as his attacker's body hit the ground at his feet. All he knew was that when he woke up a few days later, he and his brother were orphans and everything they knew was gone or irreversibly changed. The funeral was huge but the burial grounds were luckily at the Uchiha compound. No one was missing. He and his nii-san were truly alone in the world.

Today, everyone knew not to mention the Uchiha clan, let alone the massacre, as it made Sasuke very testy and no one really knew just what the last Uchiha would do. And so Jiraiya shut up and changed the subject to safer matters. The four shinobi started talking about their latest missions or trainings, as Sasuke had not been able to go on an official mission yet. He needed a supervisor for his first year as a shinobi but Kakashi was too busy to lead him on missions and Jiraiya had been focusing on something else that he had ended up dragging Kakashi into, too. And Sasuke would need special escorts due to him being the last person alive carying the precious Uchiha blood no one wanted to lose before they could find out all of their secrets.

"What _is_ Kakashi looking for?" Sai ended up asking, not at all bothering to realize that it was not something you should as so bluntly as now Jiraiya will never tell them. True to their expectations, the so called frog hermit started laughing deeply and Sasuke and Sakura glared at Sai.

"Ah, now that's a little secret. Well, a really _big_ one, actually," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, staring off into the distance as they walked towards a karaoke bar - Sai's choice, as he had read somewhere that it was the best place to get to know someone and become closer friends. It would be a new experience for the teens but Jiraiya assured them it really was fun. "He's searching for this guy that might shed some light on a lot of things. For example, he's actually the only person alive who can still enter the ninja villages."

"No way!" Sakura gushed. "I heard that it was impossible to find them! You said so yourself!"

"I did," Jiraiya confirmed with a nod and a fond smile. "But this guy ... he's different. He's the type of guy who has the guts to never give up. He searched and he found what he had searched for. But he's not telling anyone where or how we could find them. With good reasons. We are not ninja anymore. We are shinobi. Those villages are part of history now and we would only want to soil that history with our modern ways. He visits them regularly so that he can keep them properly."

"I thought that it was forbidden to return to the villages?" Sai asked with a frown, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. He knew very well that it was prohibited. Anyone caught doing it will be exiled from the shinobi society. And all rouge shinobi are treated as all rouge ninja had been: they were hunted down, killed, their bodies hidden, their graves never to see light of day again.

"That may be, but he's the oldest shinobi alive." Jiraiya throughly enjoyed the slacked jaws he was getting as a reaction. He ignored the stares he felt on his back as he paid for the karaoke room they were renting.

"How old are we talking about?" Sasuke dared to ask, thinking about what number the old man might give him. Jiraiya himself was around three hundred and five years old, shinobi wise, as he had a really, really long life. How old could this guy be, when the Sannin were considered the oldest three? Only their teacher had been older and that was by a decade or two.

"Around four hundred years." Another round of jaw dropping. Jiraiya laughed at the reactions he was getting. There was rarely anyone that close to the age of Konoha, the oldest of the hidden villages. It was a well known fact that the Third and Fourth Shinobi War had wiped out a good chunk of the Immortals from before them.

It was one of the reasons Uchiha were feared. They had loads of techniques that only _they_ as born Sharingan users can do that could kill an Immortal. Many made techniques based on the ones the Uchiha have used on a few rare occasions and there were those who found out human sacrifice _can_ kill an Immortal. Still, none could off the Immortals like the Uchiha Clan could, should they ever tire of Immortals. A _Fifth_ Shinobi War was the last thing they needed right now.

The three teens (well, Sai and Sakura at least _looked_ like teenagers) tried to get Jiraiya to tell them more about the four hundred year old Immortal but Jiraya was too far off in his own musings. They had exchanged confused looks and just shrugged him off in the end. They'd get him to talk when he gets drunk later.

As expected, the old hermit _did_ order sake and lots of it. Sai took a little as well but Sakura put her foot down when they tried offering it to Sasuke. Not that the Uchiha would have taken it. He had tasted the stuff once and found it repulsive. He liked scotch, though, and his favorite alcoholic beverage was the Bloody Marry. Sai put down the sake after that one drink, finding it rather cheap and with a horrible after taste. Jiraiya had shrugged him off and drank and drank ... and drank until it was all gone. By then, Sasuke had decided it wasn't nearly entertaining enough to watch Sakura screaming at the other two Immortals about their manners and moral after hearing the _hundredth_ penis joke Sai would tell them almost gleefully.

Now, him wanting to leave meant the others had to follow and the slightly drunk Jiraiya was all against it ... until Sakura reminded him that he had to report to Tsunade's office early tomorrow morning. The white haired man had instantly got out of his seat and started beckoning the teens in a very weird manner. Never the less, they left the karaoke studios and started heading towards Sasuke's place and they had quite a few laughs on the way, sharing old funny stories or telling crude jokes about the Council members. Everything was fine until Jiraiya stumbled, nearly face-planting on the sidewalk and then a savage howl echoed the empty streets.

Before the group of four could blink, they were surrounded by twelve people, obviously shinobi, some of whom Sakura, Sai and Sasuke could personally recognize. They had never thought that their schoolmates would turn on them like this, no matter how bad their relations were.

The mother of the Inuzuka clan stepped forward, her wolf like dark dog companion following at her heal. "If you hand over Uchiha Sasuke right now, we will not harm you."

"Then I guess there will be a hell of a lot harming." Jiraiya grumbled as he got back to his feet, head light and dizzy but a firm glare on his face. Sakura and Sai were ready in a second, gloves and paintbrush out. Sasuke cursed as he realized he only had a few kunai and shuriken on him as he couldn't carry around his preferred weapon. It was apparently against the law to haul around a sharpened katana.

The raven haired genius frowned when a tussle haired brunet came coser to the Uchiha. "Oh, I am going to _enjoy_ taking you down, Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, ready for an attack, but said nothing. The sixteen shinobi stared at each other for a long minute when a grandfather clock in a nearby house struck midnight and they lunged at each other.

That was how it had began and now, when Sasuke had thought himself to be about to die, he saw something yellow flash from the corner of his eye before the deadly attack was swiftly repelled. The teens stared in wonder as Kiba and his giant dog, Akamaru, went sailing to the side, their deadly spin coming to a stop even before the harsh landing.

A low whistle from a little behind Sasuke had the four attacked looking over their shoulders at the masked, silver haired man that stood there with hands casually shoved into his pockets while a brunet, slightly tanned and slightly shorter than the first, hovered anxiously beside him.

"You're late." Sasuke said and those mismatched black and red eyes focused on Sasuke.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but I had a fox to deal with." His faze returned to the male now stood a few feet in front of Sasuke, rigid and his back to the Uchiha, one arm still outstretched to the left where he had so easily flung Kiba.

The man lifted his sun colored hair and cast a glance over his shoulder at Sasuke, who vaguely remembers seeing startlingly blue eyes and three strange markings on a cheek before he passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Sasuke wasn't all that surprised when he woke up in a hospital the next morning, bruised, cut and hurting like all hell. He was actually more surprised with just _waking up_ , since he had thought he was done for last night. He hadn't been expecting to be greeted by white ceiling and walls and sheets on an uncomfortable bed with the heart monitor's annoying beeping filling up the room, but rather the sight of his mother, father and brother and the rest of their clan up in heaven or even down in hell, he wouldn't have cared. He only wanted to be with them again.

But no, he just _had_ to end up in the freaking _hospital_ of all places! _'Great. Tsunade-sama won't let me out for a week now that I'm here.'_ He wondered where his three Immortal companions were and if they were going deaf by now. Tsunade must have been pissed when they arrived, especially since the last Uchiha had been in such a bad state.

Although, he didn't feel so bad. In fact, he felt as if he had never even fought in the first place! He wondered if Tsunade had made some new healing method that made him feel this good when the door opened and said woman entered along with her assistant, Shizune, and his two companions, Jiraiya strangely missing. Usually the old man wouldn't leave his side until Sasuke chased him away with a Chidori, a deadly lightning technique that Kakashi had thought him.

"Ah, Sasuke, you're awake I see." The busty blond, honey eyed Sannin said as she walked over to his bedside. "You look well. You might even get released today." Sasuke stared at her with astonishment written all over his face, mirrored on Sakura's and Sai's, as they all know that Tsunade _always_ makes Sasuke stay at least two days in the hospital if he ends up there. "What? What's with that look?"

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Tsunade-sama?" He asked in a bland but dead serious voice and Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"I have no reason to keep you here, Uchiha, so I am kicking you out. You are completely healed and even woke up sooner than expected. Keeping you here would be a waste of space." She tsked as she started taking off the instruments that had been measuring his blood pressure, his chakra flow and his heartbeat and breathing. When she finished that, she let her hand glow with green chakra before waving it over his body, checking all of his injuries and making sure there was no sings of internal bleeding. With that, she nodded and went right out of the sliding doors, leaving Shizune to scramble after her.

The three teenagers left in the room stared after them, not knowing what to think of this occurrence. Finally, Sasuke turned towards the two Immortals with a bewildered expression on his face. "Is it just me or was she acting weirder than usual?"

Sakura shook her head before sitting on the edge of his bed by his ankle. "It's not just you and it's not just her."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone is acting really strange this morning. Captain Yamato has been nervous when he waited for me to wake up and Kakashi-sensei barely paused long enough to grumble a greeting." The paler if the two raven haired boys said as he sat in the only chair left for visitors placed by the bed. "Danzo-sama all but threw me out of bed and demanded I get back to my post when I woke up."

"I thought you don't take orders from Danzo anymore," Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes a bit. Danzo had wanted to get his hands on Itachi since his brother was six but he never dared try and recruit him. He _had_ tried talking with Fugaku when Itachi turned eleven and joined ANBU to transfer him into Root, but their father had put his foot down and threw the man out of their house. A few years later, it was speculated that Danzo killed one of their cousins, Uchiha Shisui, a few months before the massacre but no deviance pointed to the man so they had to let it go. Needless to say, he tried to get custody of the two orphaned Uchihas after the massacre but Itachi managed to fight the Council so that _he_ could be Sasuke's official guardian under strange arguments Sasuke to this day knew nothing about. In the eyes of the normal public, though, Kakashi and Jiraiya shared custody of the two brothers as two extremely close friends to the Uchiha family.

"I don't, but once a Root member, you are always considered a Root member. Never mind that I had Tsunade-sama herself personally remove me from their ranks. Apparently, to Danzo, it's just some plot I came up with to get him closer to you, Sasuke-kun." The teen rolled his eyes and made air quotes in an unusual and rare display of open emotion. Sasuke felt his lips quirk upwards in amusement, much to his companions' obvious delight.

"Sakura, do you know anything about this?" The girl was best friends and rivals with the biggest gossip girl of the Shinobi Alliance, Yamanaka Ino. The pale blond loved gossiping about everything and anything and was the most likely to have heard something, be it true or false.

The pink haired girl shook her head. "No. In fact, she said things are awfully quiet on that front. Whatever is going on has everyone quiet _listening_ instead of talking."

"Listening?" Both boys asked and the girl shrugged.

"I don't know what that means - maybe they're hoping for some good gossip or waiting for something _big_ to happen - but apparently, everyone is walking on egg shells and are curious but for once _not_ aggressive in finding out what it's all about. Although..."

"What?" They both asked again and Sakura frowned.

"The older shinobi, both mortal and Immortal, seem to know what's going on and are _tense_ is the best way I can describe it." She looked utterly confused even as she said this. "The Council gathering tonight has become a _must_ and, quite frankly, everyone's either frantic or confused."

"That's right, I heard the meeting is tonight." Sai nodded as he jumped in and both Immortals looked towards the frowning Uchiha.

"Then I guess I'll be filling you in after tonight." With that, the Uchiha stood up and stretched before exiting his room to head for the bathroom, which was just down the hall. Only he had the bad luck of running right into a hard chest of a long, black haired man with snake like eyes and skin paler than even Sai's when he turned the corner. He grunted at the assault to his aristocratic nose as he looked up at Orochimaru, who was still just a bit taller then him. An inch or two at most but the man loved lording it over anyone shorter than him. But, then again, it was more than fair play when Jiraiya came along, as he was the tallest man in New Konoha and loved to tease Orochimaru about it. In front of _everyone_ that was willing to watch.

But there was no Jiraiya in sight and he was left alone with the greatest creeper in history that had an unhealthy _fascination_ with the Sharingan and all those who possess it. He, too, had fought for custody over the brothers, as well as people from other shinobi villages, as everyone wanted the chance to get their hands on the two, verified, geniuses and prodigies of the Uchiha Clan. He and Danzo were the biggest threat to gaining the custody, especially since Orochimaru had managed to snatch Sasuke out of the little room he and his brother had been sharing until it was all cleared up and tried to use the younger raven as a bargaining chip against Itachi in order to get the custody. Itachi had retaliated by cutting off his hand.

Orochimaru never dared come near them again and he had kept away from Sasuke until the whole plane wreck was checked three times over and no survivors were found. Ever since that day when Itachi's death was declared official, Orochimaru has been harrassing Sasuke with promises of power and what not if Sasuke became his devoted student.

The last Uchiha had been forced to chase him out of his apartment with fire and Chidori. All repair expenses were sent to the snake bastard by the Shinobi Alliance.

That didn't mean Orochimaru had given up, because he obviously hadn't as he was standing right in front of Sasuke, that disturbing smile in place with one of his newer followers, a kid a few years older than Sasuke himself, Kabuto or something. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun. I see you are well."

Sasuke glowered at him before trying to sidestep him, only to have his way blocked by Kabuto. "You shouldn't be up yet, Sasuke-kun. Not with the state you have been in last night." The fake concern only made him angrier and he all but growled out the order.

"Move."

"Now now, Sasuke-kun. Is that any way to treat your superiors?" The Sannin hissed in his ear and Sasuke turned around, Chidori already coming to life, when Orochimaru let out a very undignified 'eeep' sound and was _yanked_ away from the Uchiha, landing on his butt at a blond teen's feet. His reptilian like eyes blazed as he looked up to snarl at whoever dared treat him like that, only for him to freeze up when his murky gold eyes met a pair of unamused, startling blue ones. If it was at all possible, Orochimaru paled further and put on his best smile, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. "Naruto-kun, what a surprise!"

"Orochimaru," the blond responded in a bored voice, hand still holding onto the back of Orochimaru's collar and it now looked as though he was restraining an eager or dangerous dog without its leash on. Or, more appropriately, holding a snake by its neck so it couldn't bite, making it helpless. "I thought you learned your lesson about annoying Uchihas the _last_ time."

The tone of voice he used suggested that he was talking with a retard or a really small, difficult kid and it seemed to annoy Orochimaru, yet he didn't retaliate. Kabuto, however, was as new to this blond teen as Sasuke was and he obviously didn't appreciate his master being treated this way.

"How dare you treat Orochimaru-sama like that!" He demanded and "Naruto-kun" looked up at the guy with a raised blond brow. Kabuto was the same hight as Sasuke and he wore big, round glasses over his sharp and cunning dark brown eyes. He had gray hair tied in a low ponytail and was dressed in purple and cream colored clothes with some black 'accessories' here and there. He was a medic, like Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura, just as skilled as them only a lot more devious and far more dangerous. You wouldn't want to have him as an enemy, that was for sure. And he was loyal to the bone to Orochimaru, though it may not seem like it with how shifty he appears.

The blond, however, just blinked his large sky blue eyes at the guy and turned to speak to Orochimaru again. "You got a new lap dog? Figures." There was a look of disgust and pity on his tanned, strangely scarred face. He had three whisker like marks on each cheek, but his skin was flawless other than that. His hair was as yellow as the sun and really spiky, a little longer than Sai's. He was lean and shorter than Sasuke by half an inch, dressed in black and orange clothes covered by a sweeping, sleeveless red trench coat that resembled the one Jiraiya wore. He had a Konoha forehead protector on his forehead, indicating he was indeed a shinobi, and an older one, too, since no one wore forehead protectors anymore - they just weren't made anymore, since they were no longer ninja. Must be an Immortal if he dared treat Orochimaru and his followers like this. "But that's not important. He asked you to leave him alone, so you should respect it."

"And who are you to tell us what to do?"

"Kabuto," Orochimaru growled in warning but Kabut didn't hear it, as his blood was now pounding in his ears as he stared at the suddenly red and fox like eyes of the blond. The gray haired teen quickly bowed once in apology before moving to the side so he was out of the way should this Naruto decide to continue down the hall or to let Sasuke pass. Sasuke really wasn't sure which it was. Orochimaru choked slightly when Naruto tugged him to his feet effortlessly, getting a heated glare from the Sannin, but the older male didn't say anything.

"For Kami's sake, just let the kid be, Orochimaru. If he says no, then that means no." The blond said with a sigh, the red leaving his eyes and some of Kabuto's and Orochimaru's tension left them.

''We meant no harm,'' the snake said as he got to his feet and blue eyes rolled as the blond huffed. ''We just wanted Sasuke-kun to-''

''Shit, Orochimaru, I thought Itachi made it very clear as to _not_ mess with his younger brother.'' Naruto groaned as he made to walk away.

''It means nothing if the man himself is no longer alive to make me stay away.'' The snake all too happily said before paling again when Naruto spun around, an unholy rage in his eyes. That was all the warning Orochimaru got before the blond disappeared right in front of their eyes, only to reappear right underneath the Sannin and kick him from underneath, sending Orochimaru through the hallway's roof, all the other roofs of the other floors and out of the hospital's building.

Sasuke and Kabuta gaped for a moment before rushing to the nearest window when they heard a loud thud. Naruto disappeared behind them again, reappearing outside with a dangerous looking sphere of spiraling chakra in his hand. The Sannin got back to his feet and started scrambling away from the pissed off teen, trying to make hand seals as fast as he could but the blond was far faster.

''RASENGAN!''

''Naruto!''

And something went boom.


	5. Chapter 5

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

The Sannin got back to his feet and started scrambling away from the pissed off teen, trying to make hand seals as fast as he could but the blond was far faster.

''RASENGAN!''

''Naruto!''

Something went boom.

When the dust settled, a big crater was in the back yard of the hospital lot, but the blond was on the ground with Hatake Kakashi sitting on his back, holding one of the teen's hands bent under him and the other away from them both, at the beginning of the crater. A few feet away, Orochimaru was slung over Jiraiya's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, the snake Sannin still too shocked by how fast everything had happened for him to protest the treatment.

By the time everything registered in the two teens minds, all the other windows in the hospital were filled with curious eyes, everyone staring at the strange sight presented before them. They had never seen the great Orochimaru-sama of the Legendary Sannin this shaken before. Chatter and murmurs soon filled the hallways and the entire hospital and before Sasuke knew it, Sai and Sakura were beside him and Kabuto on the same window just as Yamato appeared down beside Kakashi.

''What's going on?'' Sakura asked, only to gasp when the blond disappeared again and Kakashi started cursing up a storm. The silver haired man barely managed to block the kick aimed at his head and now it was Jiraiya cursing as he let go of Orochimaru, the younger Sannin falling to the ground with an 'uff' and running over to the blond, yanking him away from Kakashi just as the teen's eyes turned gold and started resembling a frog's.

''Shit, Naruto! What's gotten into you today!?'' The white haired Sannin snapped and Naruto turned to glare at him.

''Let go of me right now, Ero-sennin! I'm going to break every bone in thier bodies!''

''Why?''

''That snake gay pedophile of a bastard dared say he was glad that Itachi's dead!'' If looks could kill, Orochimariu would already be buried six feet under, Immortality be damned, that's how scary the blond's glare was. The look Jiraiya sent the man suggested he was thinking about letting go of the blond to allow the teen to make that a reality. Because, really, Jiraiya wasn't sure if he should strangle his old friend for his stupidity to say something like that in front of the blond of all people or just because he said it at all. He had cared greatly about Itachi, too, after all.

''Okay, him I can understand, you two never really got along, but why Kakashi?'' Jiraiya asked, dragging Naruto a few feet away from the masked man, who was being looked over by Yamato, since Naruto had managed to hit him with one Kawazu Tataki and in Naruto's anger, quite a bit chakra was released.

Now Naruto just looked rather annoyed. ''That pervert dared take a mortal to the Ryūchi Cave!''

''What?!'' Both Sannin bellowed and Kakashi winced under the three glares directed at him. ''Are you crazy!?''

''Iruka-sensei was almost killed!''

''Kakashi, you were sent to search for Naruto, not Iruka!'' Jiraiya scolded as he let go of Naruto. Everyone in the hospital waited with bathed breath for the blond to attack again, but Naruto just fixed his clothes, sent one more glare at the two men he had attacked before disappearing from sight with the same yellow flash as he always did. Jiraiya wrinkled his nose while Kakashi deflated in relief. Orochimaru just stood up and turned around to leave. ''Why did you bring Iruka to such a dangerous place?''

''I knew he would be better at convincing Naruto to come back with us than me, but I hadn't known my search would lead us to the Cave, I swear.''

''Yes, what _was_ Naruto doing there?''

''Apparently, Manda owed him a favor and he called it in by making the snake gather intell. Naruto went to see what he got and stayed there for a few days to rest from his travels.'' Kakashi answered and Jiraiya sighed, looking towards the heavens for help, because he knew no earthly force would be enough for this situation.

''I can't believe he still won't let it go. It's been three years...'' Yamato mumbled under his breath just as a loud bang was heard from the back doors of the hospital. They flinched and looked up, even Orochimaru freezing when they spotted a very pissed off looking Tsunade. She was far too sober for her liking, they could instantly tell, and they suddenly wished they had not pissed off Naruto, as he would have been their only hope for survival in this situation!

''Just what the _fuck_ is going on back here!? Kakashi! Yamato! Jiraiya! Orochimaru!''

Luckily for Jiraiya, the doors were located right under the window Sasuke, Sai and Sakura were occupying and so he thought up an excuse on the spot. ''Sorry, Tsunade-hime, but I have to return to Sasuke! You know how it is!'' He bowed and sent her a sheepish smile. ''Ja!'' And he popped out of existence. Leaving the poor three unfortunate souls to deal with the cranky blond who was cracking her fists.

Sasuke stared down with fascination how three men were turned into bloody pulps by their respected, if crazy, Godaime Hokage even as Jiraiya reappeared beside them. ''Yo!'' He waited until black eyes turned to him before his boisterous expression gave way to worry. ''You okay, Sasuke? He told me what Orochimaru said. Or implied, but the technicalities don't matter.''

''Who was that?'' Sasuke asked instead of answering, his mind fixated on the blue eyed blond and totally missing the knowing look Jiraiya got on his face when he realized this, too. The Sannin snorted and crossed his arms over his strong chest, leaning his hip against the window sill. The other three teens - yes, Kabuto, too - waited curiously for him to identify the blond who had just floored a Sannin and a shinobi like Kakashi.

''That, Sasuke, was Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, a former student of mine and my godson." That obviously peeked their interests and Jiraiya cut their questions off with a smirk. If that impressed them, then this was going to be a hit! "He is also the person Kakashi had been looking for, which had cut off Sasuke's training."

"You mean to tell me that dickless blond is the four hundred year old shinobi you were telling us about?" Sai asked, actually letting his incredulousness show as he looked back to the crater with wide black eyes. "He looked like he was fifteen! How could he be the oldest shinobi around _and_ your student?"

"Easy. He became an Immortal much earlier than I did." Jiraiya said as a sad expression flashed across his face before disappearing altogether. He might as well have been a statue with how emotionless he looked at the moment. "We had thought we were going to lose him, but he is a stubborn one and he made it through. His Immortality, though, broke quite a few hearts."

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned curiously and Jiraiya flashed them a grin. It wasn't quite as cheerful as it would have been any other time, but at least he was trying.

"You'll all probably find out before the day ends."

"You're not seriously going to leave us hanging like this, are you?" The pink haired girl protested but Jiraiya just shrugged with a mischievous smile. "Jiraiya-sama!"

"Sasuke might be able to shed some more light on things after tonight's meeting!" With that, the albino haired man turned around, saying something about having research to do before stopping and turning around to look at the three teenagers. "Oh. If you see him, you should probably thank him. He's the one who saved us last night and we were damn lucky he arrived when he did, or Sasuke would be very much dead right now. And stay away from Danzo, Sasuke. If you don't, we might have more things to worry about than just pissed off blonds. The politics behind it all would be too complicated and the fragile balance of the Alliance we are keeping will fall down the drain in an instant." And before they could ask what he meant, Jiraiya was gone, leaving behind three befouled teens.

"So now what do we do?" Sai asked after a few minutes of silence and Sasuke shook his head.

"Now we find this Naruto and ask _him_ what Jiraiya meant. And maybe about Konoha. After all, how many people here were willing to talk about it?" In truth, no one wanted to talk about the hidden villages they had left behind and could never again return to. Many who had lived there say its painful to talk about their old homes and many more never even saw the villages. It had been a hundred years! Not even Sai or Sakura have ever seen Konoha despite often calling themselves Konoha shinobi. All they knew was New Konoha and yet the elders always said that New Konoha could never compare to the original Konoha. Perhaps this Naruto could shed some light about Konoha on them all.

"That's if you can find him," Kabuto said as he flinched with every wound he could count on Orochimaru now that Tsunade was finished. The three down there looked _nothing_ like experienced, S-rank shinobi. They might as well be beginners who pissed off a bulldog, what with how bad they were left off. The three teens watched as Kabuto left with a little wave and went to tend to his master after Tsunade left the back yard, careful not to run into her.

Sakura turned towards her two male companions. ''He's got a point. I don't think we could actually pin him down. And right now, I have a feeling he want's to remain alone and not found.''

''Besides,'' Sai cut in. ''You have to prepare for your first Council meeting, ne?'' He said with his fake-looking smile and Sasuke wondered if these two knew something or were just slightly intimidated by the displays of power from both blonds. There was always the possibility of running into a pissed off Tsunade while they searched for the pissed off Naruto, after all. He frowned at them. Well, if they wouldn't come with him, he'll find the blond on his own.

''Whatever,'' he said and finished his long since interrupted journey to the restroom so he could finish his business. He'll need to get dressed after that before he could begin his Naruto-hunt.

Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. He searched for the elusive blond for hours but couldn't find him. He had asked everyone who he saw on the way if they have seen the blond, but no one had even caught a glimpse of the oldest shinobi. As the time for when he needs to attend the Council meeting neared, Sasuke realized he'll have to put off his search for a different time, but the problem was if Naruto would stay long enough for him to do that? After all, Kakashi had had to go out of his way to search for him ...

In the end, Sasuke couldn't find him and had to resign himself to maybe never again seeing the blond as he left for home so he could prepare for tonight's meeting. Never had he thought that he would see Naruto there.


	6. Chapter 6

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Sasuke will have to admit, he was impressed with the interior of the Council Chambers when he entered it for the first time as a legal shinobi world adult. The last time he had been here had been when he and his brother were just orphaned and Itachi was fighting for their freedom of other clans' influences. But he had been scared and tired back then, only wanting to hold onto his brother and for them to just be left alone. He hadn't really had the time to put aside his grieving and fear to observe the room.

He had expected to see a modern looking meeting room with a huge square or circular table, like in board meetings maybe, but instead, the room was mostly empty except huge pillows to represent Clan Heads and smaller pillows for the delegation each clan chose, the banners behind them proudly showing off the clan symbol in vibrant colors. The lightning in the room was dim but not dark, comfortable and giving off a more intimate aura.

The Senju Clan was right across from the door, the first thing anyone who enters will see, the Uchiha Clan on its right and the Sarutobi Clan on its left. Beside the Sarutobi Clan was the Hyuuga Clan, the one that currently had the most members in its delegation and Sasuke frowned when he saw all those white eyes focusing on him. Beside the Hyuuga's were the Inuzukas and then Aburames. Their animals and insets were not allowed inside, but they were waiting right outside of the Council room. After them, it was the Yamanaka, Akamichi and the Nara clans, all having one to three representatives there. Sasuke was quite surprised just how many of the heirs of these clans were his classmates and he grew very suspicious of them all. It was too much of a coincidence.

Sakura and Sai didn't belong to any particular clan so they couldn't come in, but the side of the Uchihas weren't quite as empty as one would have thought. Beside Sasuke's place there were two pillows, one bigger where a redheaded girl with glasses, Uzumaki Karin, was sat and staring at him like many of his fangirls did, and another smaller one, which was unoccupied for now. Beside that pillow was seated Jiraiya and beside him Orochimaru, as the allies of the Uchiha and Senju from days long past. Beside them sat Kakashi as the representative of the Hatake Clan and a few other clans Sasuke didn't quite recognize. There were far fewer on the right side of the room than on the left side, showing just how little people liked his clan.

Sasuke grit his teeth. He had very few allies in this, it would seem.

Tsunade, the last remaining Senju, sat at the biggest pillow in the room, looking over everyone. Here, there was no such thing as rank. She wasn't the Hokage and they weren't her shinobi. This was the meeting of Clans and they were all equal here. Of course, the founding clans of Konoha had the privilege of speaking first but all their decisions were made according to everyone's wishes.

The only sore thumb that stuck out were the three advisors from the time of Tsunade's own teacher, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, who were said to have been disciples of the Nidaime Hokage. They were from no famous clan, yet they got themselves seats in the Council, much to the disgust of most of the major Clan's Heads. They could see how power hungry they were, wanting to have their grubby fingers in everything, even things that strictly concern the clans themselves.

Sasuke sat in his pillow quietly, wondering why everyone was so tense. He saw Kiba, Hinata, Neji and the rest of his would be attackers, rising an eyebrow when he saw their glares sent in his direction. He had mastered the Death Glare of all Death Glares when he was a kid of six years of life. Did they honestly think they could intimidate him? He didn't know what they had against him and his clan, but it was nothing new. He always knew that most of the people in the entire Alliance didn't like or trust his clan. After all, they had the deadliest techniques.

When everyone was sat down, Tsunade clapped her hands and everyone shut up, letting silence spread through the room. The busty blond looked them all over before nodding. ''Let this Council of Clan's meeting begin. From today on, Uchiha Sasuke will be joining our sessions as the representative and Head of the Uchiha Clan.'' Many of the room's occupants nodded at him and he nodded back, if just to be polite and not make even more enemies. ''Now, if anyone has anything to say, please speak up.''

Almost immediately, Inuzuka Tsume, Hyuuga Hitibi and Danzo raised their hands for permission to speak. Tsunade frowned at both of the clan members and downright glared at Danzo. She knew what Tsume wanted but she wondered why it was Hitibi who had risen his hand to speak, since it was his elder son, Hiashi, who was now the Head of the Hyuuga Clan. And she didn't dare wonder what Danzo wanted.

Still, she gave the word to Tsume, as she had been faster than the old men. Besides, she was the least likely to cause any more damage than had already been done. ''Speak, Tsume, Head of the Inuzuka Clan.''

''Tsunade-sama, I would like to file a complaint against the stranger who dared attack me, my daughter and my son last night.'' The wild looking woman said confidently, only to glare when Kakashi snorted at her.

''Then perhaps you shouldn't try to eliminate other Clan Heads.''

''You, of the wiped out clan, I suggest you remember your place.'' She snapped at him, causing the silver haired man to frown and sit up from his slumped position.

''Perhaps you should watch what you say and remember your place, because more powerful clans than your's are present and have only one member.'' He said, casting a glance at Sasuke, Tsunade, Karin and Sarutobi Asuma, who was the last living member of the Sarutobi Clan. His nephew, a twelve year old boy by the name of Konohamaru, was already an Immortal due to being the only one that had lived log enough after the enemy attack on the Sarutobi mansion a few years ago. Asuma, the only one who had been away from the household due to a mission, was the only remaining survivor on whom the future of the clan depended on. He'll have to stay mortal until he gets at least one kid. The same is expected of Sasuke, but more so since he himself probably won't become Immortal. No Uchiha ever did. ''It is you who should remember your place.''

''Why you-''

''Enough.'' Tsunade commanded and the two fell silent, Kakashi returning to his slumped position but Sasuke knew him better than that. He was observing everything and everyone with an intensity that was bound to burn them all. ''Tsume, you should know better than to try and attack an Uchiha. For centuries, anyone who has tried has been met with a horrible death. You and your children were lucky.''

''Hokage-sama?'' Tsume asked, confused, as her children paled at this piece of information. She had never heard of this before ... What was Tsunade talking about?

''Tsunade, she's been an immortal for only a decade or so now.'' Orochimaru said with an eye roll, his arms crossed across his chest. ''She has yet to meet with him officially.''

''I thought it was known far and wide that the Uchiha have a guardian of sorts?'' Jiraiya asked with a frown. He had, in fact, really thought that, but it would seem that one decade was more than enough for old stories to be completely forgotten.

''We do?'' Sasuke asked, not understanding what they were talking about. A guardian? Just thinking of that word reminded Sasuke of the teen who had helped him find his family that day when he was four, the day he kept dreaming about ever since. But surely not? That was just ridiculous!

Jiraiya looked at Sasuke just as Danzo spoke up, not caring it was out of turn. ''Was that demon not forbidden from returning?''

Tsunade glared at Danzo. She just knew this would be the issue he would bring up. '' _No_ , Danzo. He was _not_ forbidden from returning. He left of his own accord and you know it well. Now, I _suggest_ you watch what you're saying, because I hear _fox_ ears have just the _perfect_ hearing.''

Danzo turned to calmly look at the fuming Sannin. ''He was chased away, was he not?''

''Never.'' The blond woman said in a hiss. ''He was kindly asked to leave the Uchiha Compound and nothing else. And you know that Itachi gave him permission to return at any time he wishe-''

''Itachi?'' Sasuke asked with wide eyes. ''He knew my brother?''

He got a frown from Danzo as a response, as if the man was chastising Sasuke for speaking our of turn. The hypocrite. But it was Jiraiya who answered his question. ''He knew many Uchiha.''

''Wait, are we still talking about the blond idiot who attacked us?'' Kiba growled, only for his growl to be drowned out by the growl of something bigger, stronger and far more dangerous. Everyone looked over to where a blond teen with blue eyes was standing, a giant fox like creature behind him. It had orange fur and red eyes and was bigger than Tsumi's half dog, half wolf. But the most interesting thing about the fox was that it had nine tails that were swishing around angrily.

Naruto glanced at Kiba with uninterested eyes. ''Yes, you're talking about me.'' Sasuke wanted to gap at the blond, who had entered as quietly as the wind. He couldn't believe he was here! Where had he been when Sasuke had been searching for him all day? "And I would be grateful if you restrained yourself from calling me names when you don't even know a thing about me."

"Screw you, man. You can't tell me what to do!" Kiba yelled, jumping to his feet but Naruto just snorted and turned away from him when Utatane spoke up.

"What are you doing in a meeting of clans, Namikaze? You know only clan heads can be here."

Naruto snorted at her. "Then I find it funny that you three are here. You belong to no major clan and posses no special place in society for you to just plant your positions in here and yet you have." Everyone gapped at the bold accusation but Sasuke could see that Tsunade-sama looked extremely pleased with how things were progressing. "And I do have a place here."

"You are doubted for your claims of belonging to the Uzumaki Clan because of your lack of appropriate features, boy." Mikotade said, frowning at the younger looking Immortal.

"And you are not allowed to speak for the Uchiha Clan since you have been chased away." Danzo said, almost gleefully, despite his tone and face never changing. Sasuke frowned at him but he noticed a vein popping onto Naruto's forehead. He looked annoyed.

"Danzo, tell me do you even know Fugaku's words to me or are you just guessing or making them up?" Danzo opened his mouth to snap at the teen for the accusation, but Naruto just held up a hand to stop him. "And I am not here to fight with you like a kid, nor am I here to protest you taking away my lawful rights to my Clan's position, as I am sure you prefer having my cousin here. No, I am here as the only representative of the Namikaze Clan. I have every right to be here."

"The Namikaze was a small clan that couldn't even really be called a clan." Hitibi spoke up snidely and Naruto whirled around to look at him with a frown. "All their fame and prestige came from one individual who was friends with an Uchiha."

"Besides, you are an orphan at birth, brat." Danzo said cruelly. "No evidence exists that you belonged even to the small Namikaze Clan."

" **Oh, for the love of! Are you all blind or something?!** " Most of the younger generations jumped at the snapped question in that guttural, deep, rumbling, inhuman voice and Sasuke felt his eyes widen when he realized it had been the big fox that had spoken. " **Just** _look_ **at him! He's the spitting image of his father! And who cares if Fugaku-bastard told him to leave!** _You_ **were the ones who** **enforced** **it on him! And Itachi asked him to return, so he has every right to sit with the Uchiha Clan! And that's not even mentioning the whole thing with Mada-** "

"That's enough for now." Naruto interrupted and the orange fox looked at him in disbelief that rivaled Sasuke's own. His father had chased away the blond? Why? Why was he pressured into doing it and why did he give in? "Everyone, I believe you all know my biju, Kurama, the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"Yoko," the head of a smaller clan from the left side of the room boldly corrected, earning a red eyed and a blue eyed glare from the pair now standing in the middle of the room. Sasuke frowned. Why would he insist on the fox being a demon?

"Enough comments from the peanut gallery." Tsunade snapped and the man flinched. Honey colored eyes settled on Naruto and a serious expression overtook her face. Naruto didn't so much as flinch. "Gaki, please do tell what brings you here."

"I want to know why you interrupted my search to call me back here."

"Do you mind taking up your ancient duties so much that you would protest them?" The blond woman asked of the blond teen and Naruto glowered at her.

"Don't test my patience, Tsunade-baa-chan, you know very well I don't have any. What I am doing is important, especially since you have all given up on him."

"Naruto," the Senju said in an irritated voice. "In this room, I may not be your Hokage, but you are to show me some respect. You were called here because an organization I am sure you are familiar with is making a move and only you can properly deal with them."

"Akatsuki?" Naruto asked with a glare and Tsunade nodded.

"They have made their first move already, nearly kidnapping the Kazekage, the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi." Jiraiya, the one who was best at research and who had been the first to find out about this, said, drawing the blond's attention. "Luckily for us, they have yet to capture any biju, but you know that could change at any point in time."

"So Pein is at it again? Didn't he learn anything the last time?"

"He did." Jiraiya nodded. "I have reason to believe he wants to eliminate the Uchiha Clan and that his organization may be connected to the Uchiha massacre and Itachi's plane crashing."

Sasuke felt like the whole world had just crumbled under his feet, leaving him falling into a dark, endless abyss. His family was murdered and it had been planned from the start. He was the only one left and that was why everyone always treated him special, looking after him as if he were a fragile doll that might break at any moment. Or be stolen, for that matter. Someone was out to get his entire clan and with even Itachi dead, that left only him.

No wonder the Inuzuka had wanted to take him last night. Kakashi and Jiraiya both have spent almost every day with him since Itachi's accident and with the silver haired man gone on a search mission and Jiraiya slightly tipsy, it was the perfect opportunity to snatch him up before anyone managed to actually kill him or kidnap him. It would have been perfect, except Naruto had arrived just in time to drive them away.

"I wouldn't be surprised. After all, only an Uchiha can counter his techniques." The blond said, crossing his arms with a frown. "But why do you need me? Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei have been protecting him since Itachi's accident quite well, so why call me in now?"

"The Akatsuki have been seen on the move last month, Naruto. It's really only a matter of time before they come for Sasuke and that's not going to be pleasant." Kakashi spoke up and Naruto turned to look at him. "Sasuke is now of age in the eyes of the shinobi world and they will definitely come after him when his location is finally spread about, since he is a part of the Clan Council now. They _will_ come and they will come in _hard_."

"And you know you are the only one who has ever fought and defeated Pein." Jiraiya added and most of the younger members of the Council eyes widened at this piece of information. "Also, beside Sasuke, you will be the only one whom he will seek out. We need you to fight with us one more time, Naruto."

"If not, the world as we know it will cease to exist." Everyone whipped their heads from the three Immortals to Asuma, who had spoken up from beside the Hokage. Orochimaru nodded from beside Jiraiya as did the Nara. Hiashi and his twin Hizashi nodded as well, showing their support. Tsunade locked her eyes on Naruto's and interlocked her fingers as she rested her chin on them.

"And so it has been decided that you will take up your position as the Uchiha guardian and protect and train Sasuke until this matter is dealt with."

"WHAT?!" More then one voice yelled and the guards outside flinched at the volume while half of New Konoha shook.

Yet all Sasuke could do was stare at the flabbergasted blond as he gaped at the busty Hokage. It would seem his life was about to get a lot more interesting.


	7. Chapter 7

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Sasuke will never admit to being as nervous as he was while he stood in front of the great, big, mahogany doors of the biggest library in New Konoha an hour after the Clan Council meeting ended, hesitating to grab the handle and open the door. On the other side of these two big slabs of decorated wood was supposed to be Naruto with his big fox - a biju, he called it, if Sasuke remembered well, whatever that was - researching some thing or the other that everyone seemed to pity him for not letting go. When he had asked around where the blond had gone, one of the guards told him he was in here but that it was for the best not to disturb him right now. It was, apparently, never a good idea to disturb him at moments like these.

But Sasuke was burning with overflowing questions he had a feeling only Naruto could answer and Sasuke had never been one for patience. Something, if he recalled correctly, he and Naruto seemed to have in common. The blond had said so himself a couple of hours earlier at the meeting.

And speaking of the meeting, the atmosphere in the circular room had significantly changed after Naruto's appearance. The Hyuuga had kept quiet and stole glances at him every once in a while before glancing secretively at each other while Neji looked both excited, nervous and ashamed and guilty, all at the same time, only to wipe every expression of emotion from his face when his grandfather would look at him. Kiba and his family kept grumbling to themselves but they didn't bring up the subject of Naruto stopping their activities last night. The Nara were actively listening and participating in the debates, something very rare for the clan of lazy cloud watchers. The Akamichi didn't even take out their snacks, as they were known to do during anything, both deathly serious and silly. Kakashi didn't take out his book and Jiraiya was too busy discussing something with Naruto himself to stare at the women's breasts or write notes for his next novel. Orochimaru kept mostly to himself but he did say a few things when asked. Karin and Ino looked grumpy, although it would seem Ino had no idea what was going on while Karin knew almost everything about it. Even the three 'advisors' kept their usually degrading comments to themselves and Tsunade looked positively smug.

Naruto looked used to the change in attitude of those around him and so he didn't even bat an eyelash at their strange behavior. He did frown, however, when Karin smirked evilly at him as he sat on the smaller of the two pillows beside the Uchiha Clan's space in the meeting room. Only to further shock everyone when Tsunade insisted that he take _his_ seat and Kurama took the turn to smile a nasty smile in the redhead's direction. Sasuke was surprised to see that Naruto's seat was right and directly behind his own, a seat meant for advisors. And advisors among the clans can only be another clan member who the head of the clan acknowledged to be good for the position. No one asked Naruto any questions, since his fox companion seemed to have made it his job to glare anyone who even looks at the blond into submission and when the meeting was over, those two were the first out of the room, despite them being one of the farthest from it. The Inuzuka dogs and any other animals that were waiting inside had immediately made way for the big nine tailed fox, none daring cross its path. And the guards certainly weren't going to try and stop the two.

And so, Naruto had disappeared for the second time that day, but this time Sasuke had managed to find him. People at the hospital weren't all that acquainted with the blond but anyone who has ever worked at the Hokage Tower, where the Council of the Clans meetings were held, knew the blond very well, it would seem.

So here he was, hesitating to open a stupid set of beautiful doors which separated him from the answers to his many questions. Sasuke scowled at himself, not believing he was acting like this. Since when did he hesitate to get the things he wants? Since when was he reluctant to face someone and ask questions? Never. And so with those thoughts, Sasuke took hold of the two handles and opened the big doors just enough for him to enter.

The library was more like an archive, as it seemed to hold more than books. It was really huge, occupying three floors with high book shelves and a few work desks. He saw three safes and a big cabinet that covered one whole wall with lots and lots of big and small drawers. There was a big chandelier in the middle of the ceiling and several smaller ones scattered around, shedding a great deal of light on the library. The rug under his feet was soft as he entered and he quickly noted the lack of windows in the place. He saw a few talismans with seals on them that he recognized, remembering that they were there to stop fires. It was probably a good idea to have them here, as shinobi wanted to keep their history protected and pass their knowledge on to new generations. But the place looked seldom used and he couldn't at first see the one he was searching for, so he walked deeper into the library, observing everything as he searched out Naruto.

Once his eye caught a glimpse of bright yellow, Sasuke immediately turned in that direction and found a confused blond staring at him with a stack of scrolls, books and reports in his arms. A small, orange, furry creature rested on top of his head, red eyes also staring at the Uchiha, nine fox tails swishing around lazily every now and then. "Sasuke?" Naruto asked curiously and Sasuke had the strange thought that the other looked very cute when he blinked like that.

"Naruto," he replied with a nod, still not moving or looking away from the Immortal and so Naruto sighed, walked over to a desk he had obviously been occupying and put the books down before sitting in one of the four chairs at the big table. The fox, who looked like a miniature of Kurama, jumped off of his head and took the chair closest to Naruto so Sasuke walked over to them and sat on the one right across from the blond.

"What are you doing here?" The whiskered teen asked with an arched blond eyebrow but somehow he didn't seem the same as before. It might be the lack of the coat or the lack of a defensive attitude, but Sasuke found this Naruto far more approachable than the blond had been in their last two meetings.

"I was searching for you and someone told me I could find you here." The raven honestly replied and a suspicious look crossed the blond's and the fox's faces.

"Why?"

"I have a few questions I thought you might have answers to."

The fox rolled his red eyes. " **I so wish we had made a bet. I would be getting some money right now!** "

"Hush, Kurama. What would you do with it anyways? You're a fox!" The blond said with a glare at his companion and Sasuke's eyes widened for a second as he realized that _this_ cute looking fox was that one that had been threateningly glaring at the Council members for the whole duration of the meeting. Noticing his shock, Naruto laughed. "Don't mind him. He's a biju and he can manifest in the real world in different sizes."

"What _is_ exactly a 'biju'?"

Naruto blinked at him before frowning. "You ... don't know?" Sasuke shook his head and the frown became a glare. "Bastards, I'm gonna kill them when I learn who _didn't_ tell you about biju and Jinchuuriki."

"Should I know?" Sasuke questioned with a raised eyebrow and Naruto glared at him.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because most of the wars were fought over them."

" **Kit, I think you should start by actually telling him what Jonchuuriki and biju are.** " Kurama cut in while jumping on the desk and sprawling on top of some important looking documents. He ignored Naruto's warning look and just yawned, as if he were about to go to sleep and couldn't be bothered with searching for the next closest soft sleeping spot. His nine tails settled in all directions or over his own body and head and Kurama was officially ignoring them.

"Right," Naruto conceded, running a tanned hand through golden locks of soft hair. "Let's start off with the biju. They are tailed beasts of great power, made of chakra so dense that they have physical bodies. They're over a thousand years old and they have seen the rise and fall of the ninja world or era, whatever you call it."

"A thousand years?" The mortal one asked in an incredulous tone of voice. "How? And I thought Immortals existed since forever."

Naruto snorted. "Biju are the first Immortal beings in existence. They actually come from a whole other world, a different dimension, from which the first chakra users come, too. Chakra users and ninja are two different things, you see. Anyone can learn to use chakra but not everyone can use it the way ninjas do. Ninjutsu only came into existence a millennium ago." Naruto crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat. "The first Immortals came into existence rather recently in history, actually. Around nine hundred years ago. We're talking about the grandchildren of the first chakra users and they were few and far in between, as people though immortality was the devil's business or something. This opinion was reinforced when ordinary people first came into contact with the biju."

"Why?" The pale teen asked, studying the fox napping in the mess on the table. To him, Kurama didn't look like anything that could be associated with the devil. He was cute, furry and fuzzy with soft bushy tails that would make anyone want to touch it all the time. The only strange things about the fox were his red eyes and the additional eight tails, but the fox looked beautiful and exotic, not dangerous. Okay, maybe a little when it was bigger, but only about as much as any bigger dog. "I don't see it. Your fox looks beautiful, not devilish."

Kurama looked up at that and stared at the Uchiha for a moment before shrugging and going back to his nap. He was obviously going to let Naruto deal with it all and just rest. It was one of his lazy days.

"You say that now, but wait till you see him in his full size. Godzila's got nothing on him." The Uzumaki said with a huff and Sasuke wanted to chuckle. "As for the other biju, while they are as big as Kurama, not all of them are as 'beautiful' as he is. In fact, they look kind of monstrous and some of them have really foul attitudes and nasty tempers. No matter what size they might be, they resembled demons and people called and treated them as such. You must have noticed when that one guy insisted on Kurama being a Yoko instead of a Kitsune."

"Yeah. I thought that strange but didn't get the chance to ask anyone." The Uchiha said as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk, interlocking his fingers and leaning his mouth and chin on them. "But I still don't understand why."

"People have seen the power of biju and they wanted it for themselves so they started hunting them. In retaliation," Naruto said as he put up a few books and scrolls to stand vertically in front of Kurama, probably presenting some town or village. Kurama opened one eye and a single tail lashed out to knock over the items before retreating and that one red eye closing. "Biju often destroyed towns and villages who were stupid enough to desire a biju. However, some _were_ caught," Naruto paused, seeing the shocked look on Sasuke's face as he still stared at the representation of a destroyed village. "Oi, are you listening?"

Sasuke glared. "I am, but why would they destroy entire villages if a handful of people were after them?"

" **Because, more often than not, _entire villages_ worked on bringing us down.**" Kurama growled out, glaring at the raven haired boy. " **We were bigger and stronger than them. They couldn't do it on their own even if they wanted to.** "

"Anyway, if they did manage to capture a biju, they couldn't use its powers just like that. So they came up with fuinjutsu about six hundred years ago, an art of sealing. The Uzumaki Clan perfected this type of jutsu, but they didn't hunt for biju."

"Wait, Uzumaki? Like you and Karin? Are you two related?" Sasuke interrupted and Naruto blinked.

"Um, yeah. She's a distant relative, both family and generation wise. Like, there's about three hundred years of a time gap between us."

"Oh." That would explain why they looked nothing alike. But they seemed to have no similar characteristics either. How were they even related. Naruto must have sensed his puzzlement because he giggled with a hand covering his mouth to stop the sound. It didn't and it was utterly adorable. Sasuke wondered why he felt like blushing because of that gesture. He was right about one thing, though. This Naruto was completely different from the Naruto he had seen around others.

"If you're wondering why we don't look alike, it's not just the generation gap. All Uzumakis generally have red hair and pale skin. Eye color is different but not the shape. She looks a lot more like an Uzumaki than I do, which is why the advisers took the absence of Uchihas to kick me out of the family tree. The Uzumaki Clan is in very close relation to the Senju and as such represents another threat to their power hungry crusades. I look a lot more like my father. I do have the Uzumaki temper, though, and my mother's face shape. I also got a few other Uzumaki traits from her that I'm not going to talk about yet. But, yeah. Karin and I don't look alike nor do we really get along."

"How come?" Naruto sighed at the predictable question.

"It might be strange for you, since all you've ever known is the close bonds of the Uchiha Clan, but not all clans and all clan members have such close bonds. For example, the Hyuuga have divided into a Head Family and Branch Families which are the Head Family's servants," Naruto said, counting off of his fingers. "Aburames rarely spend time together, but that's mostly because not all of their bugs get along. Akimichi, Yamanaka and Nara leave the family house at their earliest convenience, get married and never return except for holidays." Sasuke stared at him in shock and Naruto chuckled. "Like I said, not all clans have such close bonds as the Uchiha."

"I noticed, but I never understood them..."

"Of course you wouldn't. Wrapped up in the overwhelming, if masked, love and warmth of the seemingly cold Uchiha, you would never know just how distant family members could be. Your family stuck together through thick and thin and none ever had any desire to leave it. It's one of the reasons that the Uchiha Clan was always the biggest and most numbered, despite none of them being Immortals."

Sasuke shook his head, not wanting to think about his clan but wondering at the sad and nostalgic tone in Naruto's voice as he said that. "You're supposed to be some 'Uchiha guardian'," and yes, Sasuke _did_ put in the air quotes here, ignoring the blond's raised eyebrow. "How come I've never met you? Or better yet, Jiraiya said you knew many Uchiha. How exactly did you get involved with my clan?"

He wished he never asked either of those questions, as a flash of something that resembled sadness passed through those cerulean eyes before all emotion evaporated from Naruto's face, replaced with a cold, detached expression more fitting on an Uchiha than on anyone else. "I thought that they quite clearly stated Fugaku asked me to leave."

"But why-"

"As for the other question, I don't think that's any of your business." The blond cut in coldly, not letting him finish and Sasuke felt his anger surfacing. He glared at the teen sitting across him as he growled out his reply.

"It _is_ my business when it concerns _my_ clan, dobe!" He slammed a fist on the surface of the desk, startling Kurama. Blue eyes flashed with a rising temper and the blond jumped to his feet.

"What the _hell_ did you just call me, teme!?" Naruto snarled out as the beast he housed and Kurama was suddenly wide awake, watching as the potential bond between those two became less and less likely to happen.

"Are deaf as well as dumb, _dobe_?" The Uchiha sneered, calmly standing up and crossing his arms across his broad chest. There was electricity dancing between them and Kurama decided to jump in before they could end up fighting with something more than words and insults.

" **Sasuke, how about** _I_ **finish the** **explanation** **of biju and Jinchuuriki? That's what you wanted to know, right?** " Black eyes glared at the fox but Kurama just glared back. He was used to the Uchiha Glare of Death after seeing it for centuries.

"Hn, I wanted to know things about my clan and Konoha, not about biju."

" **Well, Mr Sunshine,** " the Kyuubi drawled with dripping sarcasm. " **Naruto had one point. Many wars were fought because of the biju, and in turn, because of Jinchuuriki. One of those wars ended with Konoha as a result. Naruto and I are involved in that story.** "

Sasuke appeared to be thinking it over while Naruto continued glaring at him. It wasn't the first time someone insulted him, far from it, nor was it a first time it was an Uchiha, either. It was the first time, though, that someone called him _that_ and the first time an Uchiha seemed to genuinely dislike him. Of course, that may be because he hadn't ever been there for Sasuke but Naruto refused to dwell on that now. He didn't want to think about the pain it caused him.

Finally; Sasuke nodded and sat back down. "I'll hear you out. I'm sure the Usuratonkachi can finish his story."

A blond brow twitched and Naruto grumbled something about arrogant bastards before sitting back down himself. "So, yeah, people wanted the biju's power but they couldn't just take it just like that. They learned that by sealing something in a scroll or something similar, with a small blood sacrifice - don't look at me like that. It's not _that_ type of blood sacrifice! Surely you've seen someone, namely from the Sannin or Kakashi, using Kuchiyose no Jutsu, right?"

"Yeah, I've seen it." The Uchiha nodded, pushing away all unpleasant thoughts about blood sacrifice rituals that had immediately jumped to the forefront of his mind. He _had_ seen Jiraiya summoning his toads or Orochimaru occasionally his snakes and he had met Pakkun when he was twelve. And his brother had had crows for kuchiyose so he knew a bit about the creatures.

"Yeah, well, the Uzumaki figured out how to seal things and summon them through written seals and many thought it possible to do the same for the biju. So during the Second Ninja War, they broke into the Uzushiogakure, kidnapped a lot of people and completely destroyed the village. Rare few Uzumaki escaped kidnapping or execution. They were the head clan of that village. The ninja of that village were forced to make _any_ sort of seal that might hold the biju in, but the ninja of the Uzushio almost immediately realized that the biju were too strong for mere objects to hold them and they instead started making seals that will seal away biju in humans. It would bind them for life and if the biju were to be extracted, the human would die." Naruto paused to sigh, taking Kurama into his arms. The Kitsune went quietly, knowing this will always be a sore topic for his kit. Besides, he needs Naruto's reminder that although he was still sealed away, he had freedom and that he was not still in tjose days where he was used as nothing but a weapon for greedy, power hungry humans.

"And that worked? Sealing them in humans?" Sasuke asked incredulously. How could anyone even _think_ to do that?

"Yes, it worked. The sealing methods were perfected on different levels and in different ways but the end result was a human container for the biju." Naruto cast his eyes down and actually petted Kurama's head and long ears. "The Uzumaki, of course, had made the perfect seal. It came in handy when, during the Third Ninja War, sometime near the end of it, when an Uchiha and a Senju fought, the Senju had a biju sealed inside a woman. An Uzumaki. When she got pregnant, both the Uchiha and the Senju had to keep the biju under control-"

"What!?" Sasuke breathed in shock but Naruto didn't seem to have heard him, a far away look in his eyes as he continued his story. Sasuke decided not to interrupt him for fear of Naruto stopping talking.

"When she got really old, a new Uzumaki was chosen to take her place. That Uzumaki was my mother and on the night of my birth, someone from one of the Uchiha's opposing clans decided they wanted to make sure that the Uchiha won't get the biju. So they snuck into the little cottage my mother had been occupying during labor and they drained her of almost all of her chakra, breaking the seal and unleashing the biju. The biju was eager for his freedom and angry at being sealed away for so long so he started destroying what had been the beginnings of Konoha. My father tried to subdue the biju but in the end, he had no choice but to seal it in another Uzumaki as my mother was already dead after just managing to give birth to me."

"No ..." Sasuke breathed, not believing what he was hearing. Naruto had a biju - Kurama, it would seem - sealed away inside him when he couldn't have been an hour old?! Were the people back then really that sick!?

"So he sealed the Kyuubi inside me. The only problem with the ultimate seal that the Uzumakis made was that it required a sacrifice. The sealer was to let the Shinigami swallow their soul for eternity. My dad didn't hesitate to save us all and I became a Jinchuuriki, a vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Then, with his last dying breaths, he teleported to his closest friend and gave me to him before dying. The Senju tried to take me in but Ma-"

They both jumped in alarm when the library doors smacked open and a hassled looking Shizune ran in to search for some files before running right back out. Sasuke stared after her as she slammed the big doors closed before turning back to Naruto, only to find the blond had once again pulled his little disappearing act.

Damn it, and just when he was about to find out something!


	8. Chapter 8

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

"Eh? So he's _older_ than Konohagakure?" Sakura asked the next morning as she, Sasuke and Sai sat in their homeroom class, waiting for the unusually late Umino Iruka-sensei. He had been gone for about as long as Kakashi and the trio now knew why after seeing him arrive with Kakashi two nights ago. Apparently, he was also a shinobi but was going to work in Sasuke's school as extra precaution should anyone try and get to the Uchiha during school hours.

"Yes, but he's not an Immortal at the time Koniha is formed." Sai pointed out. "So in the shinobi world, he _isn't_ older than Konoha. Besides, the Sannin are also older then the village, if you go about it that way."

"Sai does have a point there," Sasuke commented in a tight voice. He was still pissed with Shizune's interruption. He had finally been getting answers to all sorts of his questions, some of them he had yet even dare to ask himself. And Naruto had simply vanished with Kurama in his arms the second he broke out of his trance. _'What a dobe.'_ He thought with a mental scoff.

"But in the end you didn't even get any answers." Sakura said with a pout and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She immediately frowned and uncrossed her arms before straightening out the white button up shirt that was part of the school uniform. It consisted of a white shirt with a red blazer and a black skirt that reached the knees. The boys uniform was made of a white shirt, black trousers and a blue blazer. Wearing the ties with the leaf symbol of Konoha High School both uniforms went with was optional most of the time. It was only absolutely necessary if inspection was coming to the school or if some important guests were visiting. "Seriously, it sounds more like he told you some fairytale. I mean, seriously, biju? Jinchuuriki? I've never heard of those terms before and I've studied the library inside and out."

"It was no fairytale," Sasuke calmly insisted from where he was leaning on a hand, his elbow resting on the desk. "I saw the Kyuubi with my own two eyes. And I checked out his story with some of my clan's own records and he's definitely not lying. A lot of information was scattered throughout the scrolls and books in the compound so I didn't read through everything quite yet, but he was telling the truth. Most of the Wars were for the biju and Jinchuuriki or they were involved in some other way."

"So he's one of these biju vessels?" Sai asked, writing everything down. " _And_ he's somehow now assigned as your guardian and trainer?" Better write everything down now so he never forgets any possible sore topics for the blond that was about to become a part of Sasuke's every day life. He and Sakura were still assigned to keeping watch over Sasuke, so they'll undoubtedly meet this Naruto fellow.

"Yeah. And he's somehow my clan's advisor. And he's in a distant family relation to Karin." Sakura grimaced at this, as she and the mentioned redhead never did get along. But before she could say anything, the sliding doors of the classroom opened and in walked Iruka-sensei with a gentle smile on his face that he was known wide and far for. The class immediately shut up and got to their seats because, for all that the tanned brunet was a gentle soul, he had a scary temper that was downright terrifying when unleashed. Seriously, you don't want to anger the dude. Most of the class had learned this lesson the hard way in their first year of high school.

"Ohayo, mina. Today, we got a transfer student so please be kind to him." The scarred brunet made beckoning motions towards the door as he continued. "Now, he's not new to out little community but he's been away for quite a few years, so don't scare him away again." The class started to whine when the person walked in and every shinobi's jaw dropped open when they realized it was Naruto that had just walked in. "Everyone, this is Namikaze Naruto." Iruka said when Naruto stopped beside him and faced the class. He was dressed like everyone else, except he had tied the tie around his head like a hitai-ate so that the leaf symbol was visible on his forehead. That, and he seemed to have attached a spiral to his left shoulder on his uniform jacket. The shinobi couldn't help but stare and the normal humans were already assessing the blond.

"He's cute," some girls whispered to each other.

"What's up with the whiskers?" A boy snidely commented to his friends and they snickered cruely.

"I bet he's some weirdo who's into cosplay." Another said with a mean tone to his voice. Neji and Sasuke were by now glaring at the class, white and black eyes sending chills down most of their spines but they never stopped their commentary. Sasuke didn't know why it bothered him so much that Naruto was being treated this way but he knew he didn't like it. Although the blond looked as if he didn't care what they were saying, Sasuke's sharp eyes still caught the thinning of his lips and how tense he suddenly looked. Sasuke then realized that the reason why Naruto showed no reaction was because he must be used to it, remembering everything he had read about how Jinchuuriki were treated. Like the "monsters" they housed.

"I bet he's a fag-" that was the last straw and Sasuke spun around, grabbing the front of the bastard's shirt and yanking him over his table so that Sasuke's eyes wouldn't be seen by anyone else but Kiba as they turned Sharingan red. Kiba gulped as he hadn't been ready for the assault and he was a bit freaked out by the tomoe spinning around in the red irises.

" _What_ were you just about to say, _mutt_?" He asked in a chilling voice and that seemed to snap Kiba's still smarting pride back into place and the Inuzuka growled like the beasts he lived with.

"Oh? Didn't you _hear_ me, Uchiha? I said-gurgh!" He was cut off when Sasuke sharply twisted his hand so that the shirt bunched up and was choking the brunet. Kiba's hands immediately went to pry the pale wrists away but something was driving Sasuke to hurt Kiba and he wasn't exactly fighting it. Must be all that he's heard and read in the last 48 hours, because he had never stood up for someone in his life. He considered those who couldn't fight their own battles weak - and yes, that had included himself and still does at times - but somehow, that wasn't the case for Naruto. Or maybe he was just returning the favor for two nights ago.

"Sasuke-kun, that's enough!" Iruka snapped from the front, having finally noticed what was going on. Sasuke kept his hold on the dog lover for a moment longer, watching as he turned a lovely shade of blue, before letting go and turning back around to face the front with a nonecommental 'hn'. Sai, who sat in the seat in front of his, and Sakura, who sat in the same desk as him, looked at him worriedly but he didn't pay them much attention. Most of it was devided between Naruto's blue eyes and the many thoughts racing through his head about what he had learned these last couple of days. Iruka sighed and turned back to Naruto, who had stayed silent through all of this. "Sorry about that, Naruto."

For the first time since almost all of the shinobi present had met the blond, Naruto smiled a big, happy grin at the teacher. "It's okay, Iruka-sensei. No need to apologize." At the front row of the classroom, a girls swooned and in the last row, a boy was asking for a tissue. Yeah, it would seem that Sasuke hadn't been going crazy yesterday, Naruto really could look too cute for a boy.

Iruka smiled back at the teen with fondness snd Sasuke suddenly wondered how those two knew each other and just how close they were. "Right, well, why don't you go and take a seat. There's an empty one next to Sakura-san and Sasuke-kun." Naruto nodded and walked towards the two mentioned shinobi. Sakura stared when he grinned, no believing her eyes that this was the same snarling blond from yesterday that had nearly succeeded in breaking Kakashi and Orochimaru limb by limb.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan, teme." The class started at the insult and looked interestedly and anxiously between the two boys. Sakura looked uncomfortable to be in the middle of the clash of black and blue eyes.

"Hn, dobe." Sai spun around when he heard no bite to the words and Iruka looked dumbfounded. If anything, Naruto's grin widened and his eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment before turning back around to face the front. Sasuke stared at him for a moment longer before doing the same and Iruka took this as some sort of sign to continue with whatever he was going to tell them and so he shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Right, as you know, a big fall festival is going to be held here in Konoha in two weeks time. Every class in the school is going to make something for the festival, a stand, a performance, one class even reserved the rights for a haunted house. We must decide today what we're going to do for the fair. So, any suggestions?" A girl immediately lifted a hand. "Yes, Tenten?"

"How about a shooting game?"

"Lame!" A boy from the other side of the classroom called and the kunoichi (yes, she was a shinobi, too. She was one of the twelve who attacked Sasuke, Sakura and Jiraiya two nights ago) glared at him but someone else beat her to saying anything.

"We could make a martial arts competition!" The fired up Lee, also one of their attackers and a shinobi, yelled with flames dancing in his eyes.

"No, a bakery!"

"A cafe!" Two girls yelled at the same time and some boys whistled their approval.

"A concert!" Ino yelled and most of the class groaned. "What? It's been a success the past few years!"

"But Ino, it always turns into a pissing contest with other schools!" Someone complained and Ino glared at them.

"And it's always Ino-Shika-Cho, too!" Another person added and Sasuke found it strange that Naruto was suddenly coughing in order to mask his laughter. He didn't see what was so funny about that.

"And we always get creamed in the end!" Now Ino's eyes were glaring death at the last speaker, but Kiba wasn't afraid of Ino. "If we're going to make a concert, a new group should preform."

"Then I suggest Sasuke-kun. He's pretty good with the guitar." Sai said with a smile that became strained when Sasuke suddenly seemed to be emmiting a dark aura around him while his eyes flashed red. But Sai was unrelenting and continued onwards, obviously lacking selfpreservation instincts. "And I'm sure he'll be happy to preform."

"Kyaaa~! Please, Sasuke-kun~!" The girls immediately squealed with delighted pink hearts for their eyes as they stared at the handsome Uchiha, who growled in disgust.

"No."

"Actually, I think that would be great, Sasuke-kun!" The raven whipped his head around to gawk at Sakura's smiling face. "Come on! It's gonna be fun!"

Sasuke's glare intensified. "No."

"What? Are you afraid?" Kiba mocked and Sasuke threw daggers at him with his glare but Kiba just snickered. Payback was a bitch. "Not so perfect, are you, _Sasuke-kun_."

"Then you should play the DJ stand, Kiba." A cool voice said and everyone turned around to stare at Neji, whose white eyes were issuing a clear challenge to the dog lover. "I heard you're good at it. Or are people spreading lies?"

"Fuck off, Hyuuga!" The Inuzuka growled and now everyone was observing the shinobi as they snipped at each other. "At least I have _some_ sense for music, unlike _you_ , who would rather spend their life like a deaf person with no noise around."

"Don't talk to Neji like that!" Tenten snapped, jumping from her seat. "No one can play the bass guitar as well as he can!"

"Tenten," Neji hissed at the Chinese girl and she flushed in embarrassment for revealing a secret she had been entrusted with keeping. It would seem not even Hinata knew about this, as she was looking at Neji with surprise on her face. Shino just kept quiet as he watched the drama unfold while Lee was jumping up and down at the possibility of seeing Neji play.

"I'll be the drummer!" The kid with the bowl haircut happily exclaimed, waving his bandaged hands around. He wasn't hurt, he just practiced taijutsu a lot and had blisters all the time. After some time, they became a part of his image and he never took them off.

"Keh, so troublesome." Nara Shikamaru, the base guitar player of Ino's band, commented from where he had been trying to take a nap. "Now Ino's going to want to compete for the concert rights." He played bass while his best friend, Akamichi Chouji, who was currently secretly snacking on some chips, played the drums. Ino could make real art on the lead guitar, although she always licked acoustic better than electric. Chouji made no comment, just continuing to stuff his face.

"Tell you what, girly freak," Kiba said with a finger pointed at the glaring older Hyuuga. "I'll do the DJ set, _if_ you play bass and Shino plays the keyboard."

"Kiba," Shino said in a voice that might have held a warning or a threat, but it was too emotionless for anyone to tell and with the high collar of some shirt he was wearing under his school uniform and the round black glasses on his face, they couldn't even guess if any emotion showed at all.

"Then we have us a band!" Lee cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

"I never agreed to that," both Sasuke and Neji said at the same time with the same glare, but the Hyuuga just _had_ to continue. "And besides, we don't have a lead singer."

Everyone fell silent and Ino was mentally cheering at the fact that no one could match her voice in the entire class. Then Hinata, of all people, had to speak up.

"H-how about N-Naruto-kun?" The entire classroom gawked at the Hyuuga heiress for speaking at all and the white eyed girl flushed as red as a ripe tomato before what she said registered in everyone's brains and they turned around to study Naruto. The blond raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms across his chest and uttered one simple word.

"No."

"Oh, come on Naruto!" Now Sakura turned on her other seatmate. "Don't knock it till you try it and all."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but I don't sing." The boy simply stated. Kiba leaned over and grinned nastily at the blond.

"You mean you _can't_." He mocked but Naruto simply tilted his head back and brought a hand to smack the Inuzuka back on the forehead, so the taller boy would fall back and out of his seat. "Why you little-!"

"I _don't_ sing for others."

Sasuke stared at the blond for a moment before an idea struck him. "I'll play the guitar if Naruto sings." Blue eyes turned to him with a frown and Sasuke smirked at him. "How about it, dobe?"

"Nice try, but I only ever sang for two people in my entire life."

"Then we'll find em and bring em to the concert." Kiba insisted, tapping his nose to show that he'll track them no matter where they hid. Naruto looked away from them and out of the window.

"They're dead." Most of the class flinched at that and Kiba stopped trying to mess with Naruto.

"Oh."

"I think he's just scared because he saw the talent my band has." Ino taunted and Naruto looked at the back of the class with a raised eyebrow at her. "He doesn't want to lose the audition so he's scared of making a fool of himself. Poor, poor little Naru-chan." No sooner than the last word left her mouth, a pencil embedded itself into the wall right next to her cheek. Ino's eyes widened while boys gaped at the awesomeness of the move. Naruto glared at the blond girl with another pencil in hand.

"Don't call me that." The girl nodded quickly before moving away from the pencil. Shikamaru reached up and pulled it out before laying it clamly on the table and going back to his nap. "And I still won't sing."

"Why not at least show us what you got?" Sai asked but Naruto ignored him. Iruka sighed and was about to ask for more ideas when Sasuke surprised them all.

"Write down that we'll be doing a concert and give us two days tops to prepare for the auditions. It's Neji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, the dobe and me." The entire class was gaping at the Uchiha while said raven smirked at the frowning blond. "I'll find a way to make you sing, dobe. Just you watch."

Naruto suddenly had a very bad feeling about joining Konoha High at all. Stupid Baa-chan.


	9. Chapter 9

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Naruto had been managing to elude Sasuke during their breaks in between classes, but not in the classes themselves. Sasuke had even managed to convince Sakura in trading seats with the blond so that he could bother him more in class about it and for once, Kiba was helping him. Of course, it would all prove futile as soon as Naruto all but _ran_ out of the room to get away from them and their annoying pestering and he seemed to have used his disappearing act when lunch break came around.

But Sasuke didn't mind. In fact, this was perfect since Jiraiya had warned him last night that he'll drop by during lunch to check up on Sasuke, although the Uchiha knew he just wanted to perve at some of the girls in the school. That guy really was a first class pervert.

"Yo, Sasuke. How's it been going?" A voice behind him on the rooftop said and Sasuke turned from where he had been observing the school grounds to face the white haired man. Jiraiya happily plopped down beside him and moved to take on of Sasuke's onigiri but the raven slapped his hand away. Jiraiya pouted but noticed the gleam in Sasuke's eyes immediately and sighed. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"How did Naruto get involved with my family?" Sasuke asked right off the bat and Jiraiya rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was hoping that would at least come later and not as the first thing he would have to explain.

He sighed. "Naruto's father was an orphan." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the prologe but kept quiet, wondering where this was going. "He spent five years of his life at an orphanage until he met his first friend, Uchiha Madara, the oldest son of that Uchiha generation. They were both training to be ninjas and they met during one of Minato's - that's Naruto's father - training sessions. They sparred, they talked, they trained and Madara took a great liking to Minato. They spent five years as friends until the orphanage Minato lived in was burned to the ground during the raid to the little village he lived in by some bandits. Minato had no where else to go and no one would adopt an orphan from literally birth; it was considered a bad omen. So Minato spent a month in the streets until Madara finally found him, near death with malnourishment and exhaustion and he and his four younger brothers dragged him home. Later that year, the Second Ninja War started and ended two years later. Minato fought with the Uchiha but he fell in love with the last surviving Uzumaki of the head family, Kushina-hime, who had just recently been taken in by her uncle, Senju Hashirama. They courted each other and eventually married and then during the Third Ninja War, Kushina became a Jinchuuriki. Most of the Senju were very much against their marriage and that had resulted in Kushina leaving to live with the Uchiha-"

"Wait, why were they against it? Naruto's father was a Namikaze, what did they have against that?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Madara insisted that Minato be adopted and recognized as his fifth brother and since Minato was a genius to rival both Madara and Hashirama, the Uchiha were more than happy to accept him. Basically, until Minato found out he was actually from the Namikaze Clan, he bore the name Uchiha." Jiraiya chuckled at the slack jawed expression on Sasuke's face and took this opportunity to snatch up an onigiri and lick it in a childish display of ownership so Sasuke wouldn't take it away. That snapped Sasuke out of his shock and he glared in disgust at the Sannin. "Anyway, the Senji didn't like the union, even after Minato proved his heritage as the last Namikaze - like, the _really_ last Namikaze. No one else but him. Hashirama approved it, as Kushina was his late wife's niece and goddaughter-"

"Wait, Madara and Hashirama were the same age and Minato was at least near that same ageN, tok, right?" Jiraiya nodded, not understanding where the Uchiha was going with this. "Naruto told me his mother became a Jinchuuriki because the last one got really old."

"Oh, no. She got sick. Deathly sick. There was no cure, not even with healing ninjutsu. They had to seal the Kyuubi away in someone else or else he'd break free and do who knows what."

"Oh." So she got sick. Maybe Naruto heard a different story? Or maybe he jusz considered her old since he called Tsunade an old granny. Not that she wasn't, but she didn't look or act like it.

"Yes, well... When Kushina got pregnant and went into labor, someone came to steal away the Kyuubi and the process killed her. The Kyuubi went on a rampage and Minato had to stop it by sealing it into the best container he could find on as short a notice as possible. Naruto was the only choice. And after sealing the beast away, he went to search for Madara, whom he still considered an older brother. He begged Madara to look after Naruto, even if from afar before he died. The Senju came and thought that Madara had been behind the Kyuubi attack and so they attacked him. In his grief, while holding the little Naruto close to protect him from both the cold and the attacks, Madara summoned the Kyuubi and nearly wiped out the entire Senju Clan. Hashirama managed to repress the Kyuubi's powers with his own and pushed it back inside the seal Naruto has at his navel. Madara calmed down and took off with baby Naruto and Minato's body, returning later for Kushina's. By then, the remaining Senju had seen that they had wrongly accused Madara and tried to make amends, but Madara kept a distance from them for four years. That's when the Fourth War started and in the meantime, he had been raising Naruto. That should answer your question how Naruto got involved with your clan. Madara adopted him as his second son, having gotten one of his own only six months earlier."

Sasuke stared off into space in shock for about a minute before shaking his head and looking at Jiraiya. "So he is practically an Uchiha, right? Then why did my father chase him away and why did he leave? Sounds to me like he has as much claim to the uchiha name as I do."

"Fugaku didn't chase Naruto away. Naruto left because Fugaku asked him." Jiraya said with a sigh, finishing off his onigiri and lying down on the cold, hard concrete. "I don't really know what happened. That's between Fugaku and Naruto, I'm afraid. However, I _do_ know that it was partially because Fugaku feared for Naruto's safety while the other part was because the Council - more like the advisors, but you know what they're like - demanded it."

"It doesn't sound like my otou-san to give up so easily and do as someone else says." The raven haired boy mused, remembering the naturally scowling face of his father and the mulish attitude he had. It was something Sasuke was sure he inherited from his father and okaa-san had told him it was a purely Uchiha trait to be as stubborn as that. "He didn't strike me as that type of person."

Jiraiya shrugged, observing the clouds. "I already told you that I don't really know his reasons behind doing it. All I know is that Fugaku became incredibly cold afterwards and only you, Itachi and Mikoto-chan could wring out a smile out of him. A lot of bad things were going on in those years. The Council had started breathing down their necks and Fugaku was worried that they might try something with the clan. He was especially always worried about you. You would be the first generation-" The white haired Sannin seemed to catch himself and shook his head. Sasuke was about to ask him what he meant when the bell rang to signal he had five minutes to get back to class. The frog hermit seemed to deflate in relief, which caused Sasuke to frown. Why were these talks always interrupted just when he was getting to something important?

"Well, it would seem that education calls." Jiraiya said as he jumped to his feet, getting ready to leave before the kid wrung out even more information from him that Naruto didn't want Sasuke to know quite yet. "So, if that's everything, I'll be go-"

"Wait, just one more question." Sasuke called out as he, too, jumped to his feet. The Immortal sighed and turned to face the last Uchiha. "Naruto said he won't be the lead singer for this new band we're making for the upcoming festival. He said he only sang for two people and that they're dead. Who are they and why?"

"That's all?"

"Yes," the boy said with a determined look on his face. Jiraiya sighed yet _again_ before answering.

"He didn't quite tell you the truth. He sings for every Uchiha. When they're young, he sings them to sleep with old lullabies." He explained when Sasuke gave him a puzzled look. "But he stops after they reach a certain age. The last Uchiha to hear him sing was Itachi, though not how you would have thought. Itachi made him go to the concert of his favorite band, made arrangements that they'd be escorted to the stage and Uchiha Itachi, one of the stoic bastards of the most stoic clan in the world, sang before millions of people. Then he handed the microphone to Naruto and told him that one of the band's newest songs was actually written specifically for Naruto. Naruto sang to a grown up - Itachi was, like, twelve then - Uchiha for the first time in four hundred years."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he absorbed all of this information, staring at Jiraiya with a slightly opened mouth. His nii-san ... went to all those lengths just so Naruto would sing for him?

"As for whom the two people he only sang for ... That would be Uchiha Madara and his younger brother Izuna. The two of them were the ones who raised Naruto for the most part. It's his way of showing his respect and gratitude to them for them to be the only two people who really actually knew how he sounded when he sang." Jiraiya said in a low voice before lifting a hand and giving a small wave and just like that, in a whirlwind of leaves, he was gone.

And Sasuke was left with even more questions now. Sure, he found out about the connection between Naruto and his clan but he didn't quite find out why his father asked Naruto to leave. He learned just how far his brother had been willing to go to get Naruto to sing for him and he realized just how ... little he knew about all of this. Sure, he now knew a part of Naruto's story, but he was far from knowing everything and very, _very_ far from knowing Naruto. And just _what_ had Jiraiya meant by Madara and Izuna being the ones who raised Naruto 'for the most part'? Sasuke ft like tearing his hair out. He really had only ended up with more questions than answers.

But the thing with Itachi stood out the most to him. Hadn't Tsunade said that Itachi had tried to bring Naruto back to the Uchiha? Now here he learns just how much Itachi was willing to go through for just one song sang by Naruto. Did his brother really care that much about Naruto? It must have been reciprocated, what with how Naruto had reacted to Orochimaru's implication yesterday morning.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the one minute warning bell and he sprinted off of the roof top at full speed so he wouldn't be late for his next class. As he entered the classroom just before the teacher, he saw the object of his musings staring worriedly outside of a window. Upon his entrance, Naruto looked over and seemed to relax when he saw him. He even gave a small smile that he tried to hide by looking away.

It was then that Sasuke decided. Be it for the stupid concert or not, Sasuke was going to get close enough to Naruto for the blond to trust him. He knew it was definitely going to be tough but Uchihas don't quit easily and as he was the last one, he will need to make sure he does this right. Naruto had obviously been with the clan for the past four hundred years, so he probably knows every Uchiha trick in the book. Sasuke will just have to make sure he invents a few new ones.

And so, unknowingly, as he sat next to the blond and the class began, Sasuke set himself on a path many of his ancestors had already walked, trying to catch and hold on to the blond's heart.

00000

He was enjoying this. And judging from the twitching of that blond eyebrow, Naruto knew he was enjoying this. Sasuke couldn't quite hold in the smirk that stretched across his lips as Kiba, Sai and Lee talked poor Naruto's ears off, the ever loyally waiting Akamaru following after his owner and adding a comment or two in the form of a bark as they, Sasuke and Sakura followed Naruto as the blond was walking home.

It wasn't planned. Far from it, actually. They had just kind of silently decided to find where Naruto stays and bore him to death until he decided to either knock them out and then throw them out of his home or he accepts to be the lead singer. Shino would have joined them - read, Kiba would have dragged him along - but he had some family matters that he had to take care of and they hadn't bothered to wait for Neji or send the silent message to him.

And for once, Lee hadn't thought to bring it up to the long haired genius' notice. He had been too busy trying to apologize and then make friends with Naruto. Apparently, his family was a close ally with the Hyuuga and they had the clan's protection and support if they fought for them should an enemy attack. It wasn't unheard of, as the Hatake and the Uzumaki were like that with the Uchiha while the Sarutobi are like that with the Senju. It was more common than not that a bunch of smaller families gathered around strong clans so they would be protected from other strong clans.

"So how are you connected to the Uchiha?"

"Are you and Sasuke-kun close, youthful friends?"

"Why do you look so girly that you don't seem to have a penis?"

"What's up with the whisker?"

"Would you like to spar with me please?"

" _Do_ you have a penis?"

"Woof!"

The questions went on and on and on until Naruto finally snapped and whirled around on the one Immortal and two mortals, deadly intent seeming to radiate off of him in waves as he cracked his knuckles. "If you don't shut up right now, I will kick your asses all the way to the Moon and wait for you to crash back down." Lee backed off, not wanting to offend the angry blond while Sakura shook her head when Sai followed Kiba's lead and kept pestering the blond. When a moment later Naruto really _did_ punch the daylights out of them, neither Sasuke nor Sakura felt sorry for the two. Lee looked worriedly from the dog boy to the artist while Akamaru tried to lick his master awake. The blond Immortal just turned around and kept walking home with a childish pout on his lips, his arms crossed over his chest and muttering under his breath about bastards and the such.

Sakura and Sasuke caught up to him, Sasuke on his right and the pink haired girl on his left. "So, how old are you?" She asked. Blue eyes glanced at her and his sour mood seemed to go away after he realized he had gotten a normal question to answer.

"I'm four hundred and fifteen years old."

"But how old were you when you became an Immortal?" The kunoichi corrected her question and Naruto blinked at her. "You don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable talking about it."

"No, it's fine." He reassured with a goofy grin, his mood lifting completely. "I was fifteen, almost sixteen when I became an Immortal."

"So you're younger than me and supposed to be my sensei?" Sasuke asked with an arched brow and Kiba snickered at him. "Are you sure you can even do it, dobe."

Naruto twitched at the insult but kept his voice as calm as he could. Everyone, except the oblivious Lee, could still tell that he was rather annoyed. "I will have you know that I have raised, trained and taught over two hundred and fifty Uchiha since I became an Immortal." Everyone's eyes widened at this and their (except Sasuke's) jaws dropped. Naruto suddenly growled to himself. He could _not_ believe he had just told them that. "Damn it."

"Are you for real?" Kiba asked with awe in his voice as he jumped in front of Naruto, causing the shorter teen to stop. "Dude, you have _got_ to teach me some of their techniques!"

"Does he even _know_ their techniques?" Sakura asked sceptically, one eyebrow arched. Naruto frowned at her before sticking his tongue out at her in a great show of his maturity when not dealing with serious matters. "No offense, Naruto, but I always heard that the Uchiha Clan hid their secrets from outdiders."

"He's not an outsider." Sasuke surprised them by saying and Naruto looked over at him. The others stopped to look at them as the blond and the raven met their eyes in a strange stare off. "I already told you he was my clan's guardian of sorts. He must have been very close to them. Especially if what he says is true. So he's not an outsider. He must have been like family."

The blue eyes widened and a blush spread across tanned cheeks before Naruto turned back around to walk towards his house again. Sasuke wordlessly fell in step with him again and the others scrambled after them, Sai now on Naruto's left and Sakura on Sasuke's right. Lee and Kiba soon joined them as they finally entered a certain part of New Konoha meant especially for the bigger clans' compounds. The younger Immortals and the mortals raised their eyebrows as Naruto continued walking through the district, closer and closer towards the Uchiha Compound. Though, after what they just learned, they wouldn't be surprised if the blond lived _in_ the Compound grounds without Sasuke even noticing. The compound was big and Sasuke only used the main house and the road between the gates and said house. It would be no surprise if he didn't notice that one of the houses that weren't on that main road was suddenly being used again.

But no. Naruto lived in one of the smaller houses just off of the street that held most of the big clan's entrences, somewhere between the Hyuuga Compound and the Uchiha Compound. It was, of course, closer to the Sharingan users but the teens still arched their eyebrows when they saw the quaint looking house with warm cream walls and a small garden in his front yard with tulips and and sunflowers. There was a waist high fence surrounding the house but they could feel a strong barrier, probably both a genjutsu and a security measure when they walked through the little doors. They were a bit surprised that Naruto was going to invite them in despite him being so against them following him.

However, when Naruto finally opened his front door, they all almost had a heart attack when something orange and furry flung itself at Naruto, knocking the blond back and almost to the ground with an "Uff!", had it not been for Sasuke behind him to stop his fall. The group looked over and around the Uchiha's shoulder at the (far smaller than Kiba and Lee remembered) nine tailed fox that was clutching at Naruto's shirt in something akin to panic.

" **Never, ever, _ever_ leave me alone again! I was fucking bored! I nearly _died_ of boredom!**" The mighty Kyuubi complained to his host, making quite the comical sight. Blue eyes rolled as the Jinchuuriki regained his footing and uttered a "thanks, teme," to Sasuke before prying the biju from his person and letting Kurama fall to the ground. Kurama landed on his feet and glared up at his unimpressed host.

"You said you wanted _nothing_ to do with 'that hell hole disguised as a learning center of doom and boredom that sucks the very life out of you' ever again after the time I joined Baru in high school last century. And you repeated that same sentence this morning, which is why you stayed here." The fox rubbed the back of his head sheepishly when he remembered that little fact but then he shook his head.

" **Yes, well, in school I can at least talk with you and laugh at the poor idiots that do something stupid. Here, I can't do anything fun! No one walks the streets so I can make fun of them and the rare few that do happen to pass by are stoic bastards from high tanking clans, so they act like they have pine trees up their asses and are no fun. I tried watching TV but there's nothing interesting on this early in the day and even the reality and talk shows get boring after five minutes!** " The Kyuubi smacked his tails into the doorway to show his displeasure. " **Tomorrow, I'm going with you. I'd rather risk it going to a school with horny, stupid teenagers and stuck up, arrogant teachers than allow myself to die of boredom here.** " And that's when Kurama finally took notice of the people behind his Jinchuuriki. " **Hey, aren't those two some of the guys who we beat up the other** **night** **and the other two those dudes we saved at the same time? Why are they here? Sasuke, I can understand, but these brats? Hell no.** "

Just as Kiba and Sakura opened their mouths to argue the comment, a male voice behind them caught their attention. "Naruto-sama." The group turned around to the shocking sight of a kneeling Neji and Hinata, both Hyuugas' foreheads touching the ground in a traditional way of showing respect or true and deep apology. "We beg for your forgiveness for what we have wronged two nights ago. I am sorry for disappointing you."

"Huh!?" Was the only noise heard, made by Kiba, Lee and Sakura while blue eyes regarded the two kneeling forms.

This had definitely not been planned.


	10. Chapter 10

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

"Get up, Neji. I thought I told you I don't like that crap." The shocked stares swiveled from the mentioned teen to the unimpressed blond, Kurama already sitting at his shoulder as blue and red eyes waited for two pairs of white to meet them. But when neither Hyuuga followed the order - although Hinata looked nervously to her cousin - Naruto grumbled in exasperation and knelt down in front of them. Neji's head snapped up, eyes wide and mouth open to protest the blond's position when Naruto whacked his head. "Are you going to ignore something I told you?"

A blush of embarrassment spread across Neji's pale face, leaving the rest of his classmates to stare at him with jaws hitting the ground. "No, of course not, Naruto-sama! You know I would never-"

"Then please get up and just explain why you did it." The Kyuubi vessel said, taking hold of one of Neji's and one of Hinata's hands to draw them up to their feet with him, but it didn't work because, as soon as Hinata accidentally met Naruto's blue eyes with her white ones, she fainted. In their surprise, both Neji and Naruto had to catch her so she wouldn't hit the hard ground. Neji sighed and Naruto let a smile stretch his face. "I guess that didn't change."

"I swear you do it on purpose, Naruto-sama. You know Hinata-sama had a crush on you, yet you still do things like this." A brunet head shook in exasperation until he remembered who he was talking to and made to apologize when Naruto hit him upside the head again.

"Shut up and all of you get inside." With that, Naruto walked over towards his door, obviously expecting the others to follow. It was, of course, Sai who walked in first, being socially inapt as he was, followed by two scowling geniuses (Neji carrying Hinata in as well) as they tried to tell him to show some respect to a person's home. Sakura and Kiba went after them, pretty amused by the way Lee then jumped through the door after them.

Kurama looked at them all with disdain when they entered the living room. Sasuke could tell it was because he could no longer lounge around on the couch by himself but has to share it and then even take a different seat when Kiba, Lee and Sai sat on the comfy piece of furniture. Sakura sat on an armchair while Sasuke sat in a comfortable beanbag. Never would anyone who didn't know him think that an Uchiha would be reclined in such a relaxed position, but the position reminded him of when he was six and his brother would put him in his lap while they watched the stars together at night. Neji and the now awake Hinata took the love seat while Naruto left to quickly make them tea and get them some snacks. Akamaru sat at his master's feet, warily watching the nine tailed fox while the Kyuubi was glaring at them all. Said owner and Lee were gawking at the _giant_ flat screen TV that covered almost the whole wall. Behind the love seat was a wall that was half covered in floor to ceiling windows and a sliding door for stepping outside. The yard had a back entrance at the fence, leading into the forest. The fence here was of a light cream wood and was high enough that only an adult's upper half of the head would be visible. The other walls were all covered in book cases with ordinary books, history books, cook books and obviously ninja and shinobi books and scrolls. Those held Sasuke's attention while everyone else seemed to be entranced with what looked like a photo album.

Seeing this, Kurama growled, stalked over to the case, growing with each step and sat in front of the book case, red eyes never leaving all of their faces. The nine orange tails fanned out, hiding a good part of the case just as Naruto came back. The blond gave everyone their tea, Hinata noticeably not looking up when she was handed her's while Neji looked used to someone, Naruto especially it looked like, giving him tea. He settled on the floor near Sasuke with a cup of his own, raising an eyebrow at Kurama's actions and laughing at the expression on Kiba's face as it never left his TV. Naruto may be four hundred years old but he knew how to enjoy these modern times, too.

"So what brings you all here?" The oldest in the room asked as he sipped his warm beverage. He looked at his two fellow Immortals but Sakura slapped a hand over Sai's mouth before he could say something offensive. Or make a penis joke. Sai loved those.

However, she couldn't reach Kiba's mouth, too, so the dog lover was happy to answer. "We came to hang out with you and possibly get you to agree to sing for our band." The brunet's lips were stretched in what might have been a charming smile had he not had such sharp and obvious fangs and the two red triangles on either side of his face.

The blond sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You don't even know if I'm good."

"Neji-nii-san said you have t-the voice of an a-angel." The teens all turned to gawk at the two Hyuugas, at Hinata for speaking at all and at Neji for having heard and knowing how Naruto sang.

"And you would know _how_ exactly?" Sasuke asked in a voice cold enough to stop global warming as he flared at the older cousin. Neji fidgeted a bit under the equally cold stare, obviously uncomfortable, but Sasuke wasn't relenting. He remembered his conversation with Jiraiya perfectly and he knew that Naruto only sang for _young Uchihas_ , so how would Neji know.

"It's actually half the reason Hinata-sama and I have come for Naruto-sama." The long haired boy said. He turned to look at said blond with almost pleading eyes. "Naruto-sama, I beg you, you must come to the Hyuuga Compound and deal with Hitibi-sama. He has taken back the position of the Head of the family from Hiashi-sama and he has been making alliances with other clans, planning on killing Uchiha Sasuke for a year now. Hiashi-sama, with the help of my Otou-san, tried to take back his place but a few other old leaders of our clan took his side and since they are older, they supposedly carry more experience and they constantly use that as an excuse for doing the things they do."

"T-three Hyuuga died and b-became Immortal before they reached eighteen just this past couple of months." Hinata said with a sad frown on her pale face. "I-if this were t-to continue, the branch families will d-die out and not long after that, m-maybe even the main house."

"We, as the youngest generations, are unable to resist whatever order they give us." Neji continued. "You know that, even if I wanted to, I cannot resist the orders of a main branch family member because of the seal I received. But Hinata-sama's hand has been forced, too, in out disgraceful attack on Sasuke, for which, by the way, I sincerely apologize." Sasuke could only nod in dumbfounded shock when both Neji and Hinata bowed at the waist to him when the older one said this.

"So that's what you meant by being forced," Kiba mused under his breath but everyone heard him.

"W-we know you d-don't have to help us, N-Naruto-sama, but Hanabi a-and Himawari were t-threatened if Neji-nii-san and I don't follow their orders." Hinata's eyes suddenly looked harsh. "T-they intend to make them Immortals at this age. Hanabi is only twelve and Himawari is seven. Please, help us."

"I thought inner clan relations were to be dealt by clansmen only." Lee asked in confusion, staring at his friend. He had never known Neji was blackmailed into attacking Sasuke. Lee had only followed his lead as it was customary for his family to follow a Hyuuga. He had thought that perhaps Sasuke had done something to tarnish the Hyuuga name and so he had followed without asking for the reasons behind it all. He felt ashamed of that now.

"That is the case, yes," Sasuke said, joining in on the conversation. "Despite any difficulties Itachi and I may have had in out younger years, only we were allowed to deal with them. Kakashi and Jiraiya could help but we were the only ones who could do anything about it. And when Danzo asked my Otou-san to let Itachi become part of ROOT, it was up to my dad and maybe the rest of the family heads to decide. My father, of course, declined and no matter the position Danzo holds, he couldn't force the matter."

"But you will find that it is a different matter for Naruto-sama, in both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha Clan." Neji said. "I only know stories of the relationship Naruto-sama has with your clan, Sasuke, but he earned very close relations with mine sixteen years ago."

"At the time he was kicked out of the Uchiha Compound?" Sasuke asked, frowning at Naruto. So, what? As soon as he was not allowed near the Uchiha, he picked another clan to mooch off of? The glare sent his way by those blue eyes told him Naruto knew what he was thinking and was insulted by the implications.

"I ran into Hizashi-san, Neji's dad, while I was house hunting and he offered me to stay with his little family until I bought something, since we were good acquiescences. It just so happened that a thirteen month old Neji took a great liking to me and I was not allowed to leave because he would start crying." Neji flushed in embrassament, Hinata chuckled and the rest of the teens, except Sasuke, were gawking. Sasuke wasn't because his parents had always told him he was exactly the same when it came to being held by anyone other than Itachi. "Anyway, they asked me to stay longer until Neji's fascination with me ended, but instead, I ended up staying with them for seven years before starting my travels all over the world."

"And in the meantime, everyone took such a great liking to Naruto-sama that he has been declared an official Hyuuga family member." The long haired genius said with a small smile at the blond, the strange protectiveness, reference and hidden fondness finally making sense. "He cared for me and Hinata-sama until I was eight and Hinata-sama was seven. Hanabi-sama has next to no memories of him but the lullabies he sang to us. The only reason I know how Naruto-sama sings is because I heard him the last time he sang."

"So you raised not only Uchiha but Hyuuga, too? Dude, is there a clan you _aren't_ close to?" Kiba asked, regarding the Immortal in a _completely_ different light.

"Yeah. The Inuzuka and the Uchiha never got along so I never had the chance to befriend anyone clan."

Kiba grinned and moved over to sit beside Naruto before throwing an arm around his shoulders. The dog lover was a bit surprised with how much broader Naruto's shoulders were than they looked. But he doubted they would ever get broader than they were, as Immortals don't change in appearance. Naruto was stuck at fifteen years old and he will never become a legal adult in the eyes of society. In the shinobi world, he was apparently a fucking legend. "Well, you've got a chance now! No hard feelings about two nights ago, right?"

Sasuke snorted while Naruto shook his head. But at least Kiba won't be mean towards him anymore and that was a big plus. Blue eyes settled on the two cousins and a sigh escaped his lips as he stood up, surprising everyone with the sudden movement. Already knowing what his host was up to, Kurama got up and jumped, turning smaller and smaller in seconds before he was cat sized and sitting comfortably on Naruto's shoulder. The rest stared at him as he put on his shoes before looking at them strangely. "Well?"

"Well what?" Sakura asked in a slightly annoyed voice, a vein popping on her forehead when the whiskered male rolled his eyes.

"Are you guys going with me to the Hyuuga Compound or should I leave you here?" Neji and Hinata lit up at this, hope shinning in their white eyes.

"So you will put a stop to this?" The girl asked and Naruto nodded, making space for Sasuke, who had come to put his own shoes on.

"Of course. Hitibi never liked me and he didn't like my suggestion that you stopped using the Caged Bird Seal on your branch family clansmen. He didn't like the Uchiha, either. He used to make things real difficult for Fugaku when he first arrived at one of the Clan Council meetings as the future head of the family. If he is left to do as he pleases, he might just start up a clan war, and if the allies get into it, too, a Fifth Shinobi War will be imminent." He answered as he and Sasuke walked out of the front doors, leaving them open for the others, not waiting for them to scramble after them but expecting it.

''Do you think you can get him voted out of his position?'' Kiba asked curiously as everyone else finally caught up to Naruto and Sasuke, the latter of who was watching the former closely. ''I mean, a lot of those guys are ancient and in the Hyuuga Clan, the older you are, the more power you have.''

''And most of those who support Hitibi-sama are the older Immortals, the ex-heads of the main family.'' Lee added as he easily caught up to the other two.

''Good. Then, compared to them all, I am ancient.'' Naruto said with a smirk cast in their direction although his eyes oddly stayed on Sasuke. ''You have nothing to worry about.'' He said in a gentle voice that promised protection and safety, strangely reminding Sasuke of a person he dreamed about to this day, even though he had seen them only once, many years ago, and their face having faded from his memories. ''I will make sure everything turns out alright.''

Oddly enough, the statement settled something in Sasuke that has been bothering him for years, since Itachi's death, and a part of him relaxed.

Just for a second, he really believed that everything will turn out alright.


	11. Chapter 11

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

 **A/N: Hi, sorry for this note, but I find it I need to warn my readers and fellow authors of what could happen. While I was** **working** **on the next chapter of one of my stories, I got a review from a guest of my story and they told me that someone by the** **pen name** **of** **KittyCutie110 is practically copy-pasting my story The Hidden Truths of the Village Hidden in the Leaves and claiming it as their own. They didn't even change the name (The Hidden Truths of the Village Hidden in the Leaves (Revised)** **). I have written a message to them to tell them to stop, but I'm not sure if they will. If someone would be so kind to tell me if they don't do this, I would be very grateful. Sorry for taking your time away from reading the story with** **this** **message. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I would also like to thank** **Bobcat, the reviewer who was kind enough to tell me of this situation.**

 **Now, onto the story!**

The short walk to the Hyuuga Compound was uneventful, and after Naruto's declaration, rather quiet. Not even Sai nor Kiba or even Lee uttered a single thing. And the closer to the big compound that they got, the tenser the air became. Oddly enough, neither Naruto nor Sasuke seemed to mind it and Kurama even fell asleep. The two kept quiet but they seemed to be comfortable in their silence, unlike the rest o their companions.

But while the walk to the Hyuuga Compound was uneventful, the greeting they got was anything but. As soon as the doors opened and the woman who had opened them saw Naruto, her white eyes widened. ''Naruto-sama!'' She bowed, then hugged him and then bowed again before turning around and yelling at the top of her lungs. ''Everyone! Naruto-sama is here! Naruto-sama is here!''

Kiba, Sakura and Lee jumped a few feet back when the usually quiet compound suddenly came to life with various and strange noises, from yells and slamming of doors to dropping of various objects and overturning of furniture as almost the whole Hyuuga Clan seemed to rush towards the front doors. Even Sai took a step back when over a hundred people suddenly seemed to materialize out of thin air while sudden angry shouts echoed throughout the now empty hallways of the main house. Sasuke would be lying if he said that he was completely impassive to the amount of white eyes looking in their direction and the biggest lie he could ever tell you would be if he said he hadn't had a second's panic when Naruto was suddenly grabbed and dragged from his side before he lost sight of the blond in the excitable mass of Hyuuga.

Naruto and Kurama took it in stride as different people came and greeted him with hugs, cheek kisses, pats on the shoulder or back, nuggies, ruffling of hair, excited exclamations, heartfelt words, hand shakes and respectful bows or nods of heads. It would seem that the few years he had spent with the Hyuuga Clan had really left quite impression on its members as even kids seemed to be eager to meet the shinobi their parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and siblings told them about. Naruto let them climb all over him in their childish glee while Kurama endured calmly the tugging on his tails or the scratches behind his ears. Hinata and Neji had joined them, standing together with two women who could only be their mothers/aunts respectively. Sasuke watched as, in seconds, Naruto seemed to melt into the crowd and become a part of the big family without effort and he wondered, just for a moment, if this was how his own family would have greeted Naruto if they were still alive. The love and the respect the Hyuuga showed him was something uncommon in this Clan if what Naruto said was true - at least towards the branch families - but this would have been a common sight in the Uchiha Compound should anyone ever have been away for longer than a few days.

 _'No wonder Hinata and Neji were ready to beg him to come here if this was the only way to unite their family.'_ The last Uchiha thought, balling up his fists in his pockets.

His thought process was interrupted when the crowd of Hyuugas suddenly parted and two identical men came forwards, the only thing to differentiate them by being their clothes. Both we wearing a kimono, only one wore a white one with a green robe over it while the other wore a black, shorter one with pants visible underneath. The white wearing one was Hinata's father and the current head of the family, Hyuuga Hiashi, while the other was his younger twin brother, Hizashi, Neji's dad. The two men stopped in front of Naruto, stared at him for a moment, before they both fell to their knees, bowed down until their foreheads touched the ground and begged for forgiveness, much like their children had not an hour earlier.

Naruto frowned down at them. ''I thought I told you _all_ to stop with that.'' He took hold of their hands and dragged them to their feet, not really having the patience for this right now. He had come here to deal with Hitibi, not make the Hyuuga stop this sort of behavior. Again. ''Besides, Neji and Hinata-chan were kind enough to tell me what's going on so I know you two aren't to blame.''

''I should have fought him more,'' Hiashi insisted but the blond just shook his head.

''If what I heard is correct, and from what I see here it sure is, then Hitibi got the support of the older family members, mostly ex-heads of the clan, and outvoted you by years, not by votes. That's changing today.'' The Jinchuuriki stormed right past them, Kurama jumping off of his head and growing until he was a head taller than Akamaru, both him and his host seeming to radiate anger as they made their way towards where they could feel the chakras of seventeen Immortals. With a fierce scowl on both of their faces, Naruto and Kurama stormed down the halls, through different rooms until they reached one big room and slammed the doors open, letting the seventeen Hyuugas see jut how pissed off they were.

Sasuke, who had kept pace with the blond the whole time, took a second to look around the room. It looked like the meeting room for the heads of the families of the Uchiha Clan, only there was no red and white fan here, but the flame trapped in a circle or the yin yang symbol that represented the Hyuuga Clan. The room also looked ... cold, in comparison to the one in his Compound. Then again, this room was bare save for those representations of the clan. The Uchihas had tons of pictures of their family on the walls. It would seem Naruto really wasn't kidding when he said Sasuke was shielded by his clan's love. The Uchiha only seemed cold on the outside, but the Hyuuga were cold even amongst themselves. Or maybe that was Hitibi's influence. The people who greeted Naruto outside sure didn't give off that aura.

And speaking of auras, the seventeen Hyuuga, six women and eleven men, all dressed as finely as Hiashi was, were glaring death at the blond Immortal but the glares they got back could rival that of an Uchiha. Guess Naruto rally was raised by an Uchiha.

''What are you doing here, demon?''

''You'll have to be a bit more specific, I'm afraid.'' Naruto mocked the woman who had dared growl at him. She snarled again, but it was Hitibi who spoke up this time.

''We mean you, you disrespectful little brat.'' The man glared harder when Kurama growled. ''You are not welcomed here.''

''Funny, you are not welcomed in that seat, either, yet there you sit, as the head of the Clan again, when the clan law states that after the previous Head's death, even if he becomes immortal, his eldest child is to take the position. Like Hiashi did, yet you took back power not that long ago. What gives you the right?'' The 400 year old one asked in a sharp tone, the Naruto who was ready to befriend them all gone, replaced with the Naruto who had fought Orochimaru and who had stood against the entire Clan Council without flinching. The change was very noticeable to anyone who knew him outside the council room and while Sasuke only knew him for a whole of handful of hours, he could easily tell that this was a side of Naruto he trained himself to get. If Jiraiya was to be believed, Naruto has been facing oppression like this, this shunning ad distaste, for as long as he lived.

''I am in this seat to finally correct the mistake made all those years ago, when Hizashi accepted you in.'' The man hissed, standing up to reveal he was taller than an Immortal. ''He allowed you into this house without my permission, brat, which makes you unwanted here.''

''Hiashi accepted me with arms wide open, old man.''

''I am the law of this family!'' Hitibi yelled, but Naruto remained as impassive as any true Uchiha would. ''What I say goes! I have risen this clan's name from the mud after my stupid heir killed a Kumogakure delegation head member! I had made sure this clan still has its name and reputation! That we are still standing strong and that we haven't ended up as the Uchiha!''

Sasuke felt his eyes bleed red, but a kick from Kurama made sure that no one noticed it. He glared at the fox but the biju snorted at him. '' **Didn't anyone tell you to keep your Sharingan a secret, you idiot Uchiha?** '' The best hissed so no one else but Sasuke would hear him. Sasuke remained quiet but he let his eyes go back to black, although he was glaring hard at the old Hyuuga.

Naruto was no happier about the comment than he was. ''Yes, but you sacrificed everything that made this clan a family in the process. And the end of the Uchiha only showed how much more they and their power was feared. Your clan, under your rule, was considered the weakest shinobi family in the time you were alive.''

''What would a brat like you know about leading of a clan?''

''I'm older than you by 308 years, Hitibi.'' The Uzumaki replied with an eye roll.

''You died while your mouth still tank of your mother's milk.'' Naruto glared in warning but Hitibi wasn't going to let this go. ''Oh, that's right! She died the night she gave birth to a demon like you.''

''Uzumaki Kushina died trying to keep me safe while my father sealed the controlled Kyuubi in my body.'' The blond coldly replied, clenching his fists and seeming to tremble with rage. Kurama was no better, obviously not liking the way his Jinchuuriki was being treated. ''And it is very well known how I died.''

''It shows how foolish you really are,'' another man said with a haughty sneer while the rest of the Hyuuga Clan slowly filtered in to see how the whole situation was going to unfold. Neji pulled on Sasuke's arm, but the Uchiha refused to leave Naruto and Kurama's side, making the older genius frown and stay stubbornly beside the raven haired teen. Slightly behind him, Sakura and Sai took kneeling positions to be inconspicuous in the case of them needing to defend their friend and charge.

''No, it shows just how well the Uchiha taught me to value my family. something you Hyuuga always refused to acknowledge.'' Naruto insisted, crossing his arms. ''Just think about it. The Uchiha have been in more wars than even the Senju have, and they are equally old clans. The Hyuuga refused to have allies until the forming of Konoha and that was because the Fourth Ninja War was too much for them to handle on their own. The Uchiha may not have been as loved as the Senju, yet their care and willingness to sacrifice themselves for each other, their loyalty to all of their family members, allowed them to become the biggest clan in history, despite none of them ever becoming Immortals. You would never have been able to make an Uchiha betray his own, while, if I remember correctly, some of the Hyuuga had tried assassinating the Head of the family a few times. You create hate between the Head family and the Branch families by placing those stupid cursed seals on them. The Head family of the Uchiha Clan would rather die for someone of the Branch family and to betray them. Oh, right! I forgot!'' The blond said with sarcasm as he moved to the center of the room. ''The Uchiha don't have that system you all love so much!''

The seventeen against him sneered or glowered at him, but they couldn't intimidate him. Naruto had seen more than all of them have combined and they weren't even in his top 100 of the scariest things he had lived through.

''Know your place, brat.'' Another woman hissed, but Naruto just gve her a dry look.

''You are 200 and I am 400. Who is the brat in this conversation?''

''You are, since you died at the age of fifteen.''

''I technically died when I was twelve, but Kurama fought death for three years before Chiyo-baa-sama finally saw that we don't have a choice and she turned me Immortal.'' The Uzumaki said with a wave of his hand. ''And before you even dare insult the way I died, I should tell you that there is no better way to die than to protect someone you consider important.''

''How did you die, anyway?'' Kiba, who lacked class or tact, asked bluntly, getting everyone's attention. The rest of the group he came with glared at him, although they were all curious about that fact. Sasuke had tried finding anything on Naruto's death but there was nothing, no records of the blond ever dying. Of course, it was now apparent that he had died and became an Immortal, it was only the question of how.

Hitibi snorted. ''The story goes that he jumped in front of an attack directed at Uchiha Madara. I told you it was a stupid way to die.'' Sasuke's eyes widened at this information while Naruto glared at the man. So Naruto died protecting his surrogate father? No ownder he was proud of the way he died!

''Wait!'' Lee interrupted whatever else Hitibi was about to say, ignoring the white eyed glare the old man sent his way. ''If you died when you were twelve, how are you fifteen in appearance now?''

''Don't Immortals stop aging after their death?'' Kiba questioned, too, and Sasuke studied Naruto as the man answered.

''I already said that Kurama fought to keep us both alive by trying to heal me, but the person who had injured me was after Madara's eyes and the technique they used was not one that can be healed. Chiyo-baa-sama nearly died in trying to heal me, but I was stubborn and she was stubborn and no one messes with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, so we all made it. In the three years we all fought for my life, I grew those few years older, but then I finally succumbed to death and became the youngest Immortal up until then.'' The blue eyed Immortal shrugged. ''The war before that time had wiped out all the other Immortals so I was the first in the new generation.''

''Why not make new Immortals during the war?'' Sai asked with a frown on his face, showing confusion. ''I mean, a lot more people died. There should have been an entire army.''

''And how do you even kill an Immortal?'' Lee asked and Sakura wacked them both over the back of their heads. This was not a conversation that should occur around Sasuke.

''That's the Uchiha's doing, the disappearance of the Immortals.'' Hitibi said, glaring at Sasuke and the raven returned the glare tenfold, making some of the other of the seventeen squirm. It's been years since they've had to deal with an Uchiha Glare of Death and Sasuke had his perfected to a T. Hitibi, however, wasn't deterred. ''They and their cursed eyes destroyed all the Immortals and they never paid for those crimes until that rightful massacre.''

''Keep talking like that and I will kick your ass again!'' The blond finally yelled, having gotten fed up with the other's bullshit. ''What are you, a second Hitler?''

''As if you can,'' sneered Hitibi's sister, a woman who greatly resembled him. Her name was Hisuka and she was as hateful of the Uchiha and Naruto as her elder brother was. She crossed her arms and glared at the blond.

Naruto placed his hands on his hips. ''I did it once for Fugaku, then again for Itachi and I will gladly do it for Sasuke, too.'' The Uhciha started at the names of his father and brother, but the conversation went on before he could say anything. ''But that's not how I want this stupid situation to be dealt with.''

''Then what do you propose, Naruto-sama?'' Hiashi finally spoke up, already knowing what was coming.

''I propose we vote for who should lead the family.''

Hitibi and Hisuke snorted together, along with the other fifteen. ''We will win. The seventeen of us carry 564 years of Immortality between us.''

''Too bad for you I carry 400 years all on my own, and I know for a fact that the others on Hiashi's side carry between 250 and 400 themselves.'' A smug grin split across those tanned cheeks and the Hyuuga behind him all cheered. It was apparent who will win.

The seventeen made one last ditch effort to keep from losing power. ''You are not a Hyuuga to participate in the voting.''

''Hiahi and Hizashi, as the two who together lead the family although it is Hiashi who is officially the head of the Clan, have humbled me, years ago, by allowing me to enter the _Head family_ as an adopted member. I have the same rights as you do, I'm afraid.'' A cheeky grin had the elders fuming but Naruto only got more smug at their expressions. ''I'm as much an official part of the Hyuuga Clan as you are. My years give Hiashi the lead. He's the Head of the family.''

''Thank you, Naruto-sama.'' The above mentioned man bowed again, sincerely thanking the blond with all of his heart. ''And I apologize for the problems we have caused you and Sasuke-san.''

Hitibi left the room, fuming and stomping like a child, which only made Naruto chuckle. The sound signaled the end of the meeting and the Hyuuga were quick to grab the blond by the arms and lead him to the dinning room, where they quickly served them all an early dinner, insisting on the group staying over the night. Sasuke spent the whole night studying the blond, wondering just what new things he will learn about his supposed guardian and new sensei in the time they spend together, if their first day was this eventful.


	12. Chapter 12

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

The next day at school, the group acted like nothing was different, as if they hadn't just spent an entire night partying with the Hyuuga family after giving them back their rightful Head of their Clan. Sasuke and Kiba, of course, immediately went back to pestering Naruto to be a singer in their band, but the blond refused none the less. Now knowing the reason behind his refusal, Sasuke started making plans that might resemble something Itachi would do, but he couldn't think of a good enough way to make Naruto sing again.

He learned that Naruto was a great evader of fangirls (it was a given he was good at it by now, if he really raised all those Uchiha), though, because he kept saving Sasuke from his one nightmare all day, making the Uchiha have to thank him a few times. And in return for that help, Sasuke got Ino off of his back - figuratively speaking - when she nagged at him not being a good enough singer to go against her.

They spent lunch on the rooftop, their little group, which gave Kiba an inspiration as to how to get close enough to the blond for Naruto to join their band. Sasuke had wanted to kill him when he suggested they have a sleepover in the Uhciha Compound and, predictably, Naruto refused until Sasuke said it was okay and then - on Sakura's insistence - _insisted_ that the blond come along.

"I don't know." The blond still tried to evade it and Sasuke was actually willing to help him - he didn't want someone as disrespectable as Kiba or as excitable as Lee in his Clan's home, where they might break or steal something - when Kiba cut him off.

"Come on, dude! Think about it! Just us guys - and Hinata and Sakura, if they want - drinking bear, watching movies, playing games," the dog lover seemed to be getting more and more excited with each activity he offered and Lee was already vibrating in place with anticipation. "We could show off our music skills a bit and talk business about the band. We could share stories and maybe even make smores-"

"Those are for outdoors camping, you idiot." Sasuke cut in but Kiba just kept going.

"We'll all get to know each other well enough for you to like us enough to sing in front of us. I'll get Shino, too, since he's in the band." The brunet grinned at the whisker scarred Immortal. "What do you say?"

Naruto seemed to be thinking about it and Kiba and Lee eagerly leaned forward when he hummed. Blue eyes focused back on them and a grin stretched tan cheeks. "You know what?" Even Sakura and Neji leaned forward at the excitable tone he used, all waiting with bathed breath for his next words. "I still won't do it." The four face planted into the rooftop and Naruto snorted at their fall. Sasuke looked away so no one would see his amusement, as Uchihas don't show their emotions in public. Kiba was the first to recover and he glared at the blond.

"And why the hell not!?"

"I already told you I don't sing anymore." The Immortal pointed out and Sakura sighed while running a hand through her pink hair.

"Just give us a chance, okay?" Naruto looked hesitant to turn them down at that but he still didn't answer. "Please?" The blond bit his lip but he still didn't answer, looking away from the kunoichi. "If you _do_ give us a chance and still decide against singing, then we won't bother you about it again." Cerulean eyes settled on emerald as the girl extended a hand for him to shake. "Deal?" She ignored Kiba's protests and instead focused all her attention entirely on Naruto.

The oldest of the group groaned but offered his hand for the shake none the less. "I must be crazy if I actually agreed to this sleepover, but I've been called worse."

"Yosh! We'll get to know you yet, my youthful friend! You will not regret this night of fun and youth!" They all sweat dropped at the bowl haircut kid's exclamation and that was the end of that discussion. They went on with their day as usual - except for history class, where Naruto corrected the teacher on the topic of an old dialect while he was quoting some historian from two hundred years ago (yeah, Mizuki hated Naruto's guts for the blond correcting him in front of an entire class) - before they were all released from school and went home. Sasuke kept grumbling as he set up the extra futons in one of the bigger rooms in his house, glaring at everything with all that he was worth while he worked.

Until the doorbell rang not an hour after he came home, that is. He frowned in confusion as he went towards the door, wondering who it could be as the others were supposed to come at six and it was only three thirty now. When he opened the door, Sasuke was only mildly shocked to find Naruto standing there, both hands full of seven overfilled shopping bags each. The raven arched an eyebrow, knowing that couldn't be light but he didn't step out of his doorway to let the Immortal in. Naruto rolled his eyes at him.

"Aren't you going to be a good host and invite me in?"

"How did you open the gate?" There was a strong barrier around the Uchiha Compound, so the only way to enter the estate was through the front gate, which were locked and a seal was placed on it so that no one can get in if they weren't from the Uchiha Clan and didn't know how to open the seal.

"Did you forget I raised most of your ancestors and as such have keys to all of Uchiha properties?" Naruto retorted with another roll of his eyes, making Sasuke scowl at him. "Are you going to let me in or not?"

"I'm thinking about it," the last Uchiha said sarcastically but he stepped aside when Naruto only laughed at his comeback. He turned around and lead the way to the kitchen, knowing the blond would follow as he walked down the halls of his house. It was a huge, old style, traditional house befitting more the Japanese emperor than a mere clan, no matter how rich they were. The whole compound was actually made to resemble the original as much as it could, but there were still echoes of the modern times. The floor in the living room was covered in tatami mats and most of the doors were sliding doors. They even had an onsen on the grounds and many of the older Uchiha had opened small businesses on the streets of their wast land. The houses made you feel like you somehow reverted back in time. Yet it was considered the most beautiful compound among the clans and the Uchiha were greatly envied for it. They had electricity and everything every normal 21st century household would have, but the antiquity of the houses gave them an elegance they would lack anywhere else. "What are you even doing here so early?" An ebony eyebrow was arched over a proud shoulder as they entered the beautiful, well equipped kitchen.

Naruto grinned when he saw the new thing in the kitchen, an old black wood table set. "I see Mikoto-chan managed to get that hard ass to put this set back." The blond chuckled to his own joke while Sasuke frowned at him. "Oh, right. I got them that for their wedding gift. Fugaku put it away a few weeks before he ... asked me to leave." The humor seemed to have drained right out of the Immortal but before Sasuke could have any sort of reaction, the blond shook his head and smiled again. Only this one didn't seem quite as genuine as the first one had been. "He probably already knew he would ask me to leave so he wanted something to remember me by intact."

"Do you know why he asked you to go?" Sasuke questioned, wondering why everyone thought Naruto was thrown out or chased away when he seemed to be such a great influence on the lives of the other Uchiha. If his father had kept something to remember the blond by, then he really never actually _wanted_ the blond to leave. So why did he ask him to? Why was Sasuke the first and only Uchiha in four hundred years to never have even met the blond? Sasuke wasn't stupid. He was a genius, actually. Jiraiya might have stopped himself from fully blurting it out, but Sasuke had managed to put all the pieces together and he knew everyone before him had had Naruto in their life. So why not him, too? What changed to make his father ask Naruto to leave?

"Yeah," Naruto's voice was a bit far away and there was a dark look in his eyes as he started taking out the things he bought. "I'm guessing you want to know?"

"I won't make you tell me." The Uchiha told him as he moved to help, putting away the things that needed to be put in the pantry. He ignored the curious look the blond sent him. From their first conversation in the library, Sasuke knew not to push the whisker scarred teen. It would only end in Naruto avoiding him until the next time they _had_ to be in each other's presence, and if he wanted to get to know more about the blue eyed boy, that just won't do. He did as Naruto instructed him to leave a few of the items out and he listened as they moved around each other with an ease that is usually born out of routine, preparing the ingredients to something Sasuke guessed Naruto wants to cook. "And you don't have to make anything."

"I think I owe you that much." The blond said as he took out an old orange apron from one of the drawers, making Sasuke rise an eyebrow at the Uchiha crest on it. "A gift." Naruto offered up when he saw the questioning expression. "And I don't mind. I actually like cooking and I missed doing so in here. A hundred years in this house ... after you can't come back, you miss every corner and dust bunny."

"I know the feeling. Me and Nii-san couldn't live here for a few years until he turned eighteen." Sasuke said absentmindedly as he put what looked like stake into the freezer.

"I know. I had to fight the advisors not to take away the Compound and Uchiha Corp." Startled, Sasuke looked up at his guest and Naruto cursed himself. "Shit, you didn't even know about that, did you? Hell, what was Itachi thinking, not telling you these things."

"We have an entire company and no one ever _told_ me!?"

Now it was the Uzumaki that was startled, looking at the slightly panting teen from his yell. "You didn't know you were the heir of one of the biggest world wide business empires?" Sasuke shook his head with a set jaw, rage filling his onyx eyes. "Damn it, Fugaku. He must have focused on training Itachi and a few others to run the business and only planned on telling you when you got older. But because of what happened, that fell to Itachi and Itachi would never put any additional responsibilities on your shoulders."

"Who has the company now?" The rightful heir hissed out in a seething tone. "The Advisors? A different Clan?"

"Actually, I do." Naruto answered. "I'm running it with the help of Jiraiya and Kakashi. They call me in when there's something they can't deal with and I come and solve it. A few of your workers are Immortals, so they know me. I usually look different for other people, make myself look older and aging so they don't get suspicious." He shrugged and peeked over his shoulder at the last Uchihan. "I'm supposed to hand it over to you when you turn eighteen. I thought you knew."

"I obviously didn't. It would seem I don't know a lot of things." Sasuke turned away from the blond, seething at how unfairly and unequally he has been treated so far. So many secrets have been kept from him and he realized just how many as, one by one, they popped up every day. It would seem, though, that the biggest deal was that he had never met the dobe until the night the other teen saved him, Sakura, Sai and Jiraiya. Maybe if he had been around earlier, he would actually know a few vital things for his own survival among the other clans.

"Then I guess it's the best time to tell you why I was asked to leave." That brought his attention back to his companion, who was currently chopping up onions without even looking at them. He grinned at Sasuke when he looked over before taking a garlic and doing the same. He put the chopped vegetables into a pot of water before moving back to the chopping board to continue preparing the other vegetables such as carrots, parsley, arugula and celery. "I met Fugaku for the first time when he was three weeks old. I had a mission for the Alliance so I couldn't make it, but your grandfather wasn't angry; he understood how much they were expecting of me. Fugaku took to me from the moment your grandmother handed me to him. He grew more possessive of me as the years passed: like a kid grows possessive of a favorite uncle or an older brother. I found it cute. It became subtle with age, but it never went away. And when he met Mikoto-chan (they were eighteen at the time), I was the first person who got to meet her. Fugaku greatly respected me and valued my opinion above all else. They thankfully married before your grandfather's death. It made him really happy to see his son was going to have a nice life ahead of him."

Sasuke listened carefully as he sat at the table, leaning his elbows on its surface and observing Naruto as he picked up the pace and started putting more ingredients into the stew he was making. He made no sound so as not to disturb the blond in his story. He was very interested in how his father was before he was born. Naruto had left at that point so that was the point in time Fugaku had become cold. Sasuke wanted to know what made Fugaku give up someone who had obviously been so important in his life.

"Seventeen and a half years ago, there was a situation." The Kyuubi vessel continued as he spiced up the stew. "Danzo tried taking over the Uchiha Compound and Uchiha Corp, following some rumor and trying to find it in the two places the Uchiha cloud possibly hide said thing of rumor. Fugaku and a few others barely managed to keep all the properties, but Danzo had crossed the line. He had, apparently, tried to go after Shisui, one of your cousins. He was about four to five years older than Itachi and his Sharingan had an interesting ability that Danzo would have just _loved_ stealing. Fugaku realized Danzo was going after the Uchihas themselves and all that they hold dear and precious, so he started hiding things. But the most dangerous thing that Danzo could possibly get his hands on if he ever got _two_ Sharingan eyes would be me."

"Why?" Sasuke didn't understand that. Sure, Naruto was the oldest Immortal and gossip stated he was the only one who knew the way to the ninja villages, and sure, he probably knew the Uchiha techniques better than some of the Uchiha themselves, but Naruto was not a part of their property and could probably level Danzo with the ground in a few minutes.

"Sharingan has many abilities. I'll have to train you in them when I judge how ready you are to even _begin_ the _theoretical_ part of that training." The Immortal said as he wiped away his hands and turned to give Sasuke his fool attention. "The most feared, however, is the ability to control biju."

Sasuke started, suddenly remembering what Jiraiya had said about the attempted theft of the Kyuubi and how it had ended with Naruto as his Jinchuuriki and as Madara's adopted son. "We can _do_ that? Can _I_ do that?"

Naruto looked at him with scrutiny before shrugging. "Don't know. I still have to see how developed your Sharingan is and sometimes that doesn't even matter. You could have a fully developed Sharingan and still not be able to do it." Sasuke nodded at the explanation and gestured for the other to continue. "Anyway, Fugaku feared I would end up being used as a weapon, so he _chased me away_ so that I can hide in plain sight. I've been doing it for years so he wasn't worried about me not being able to take care of myself. And I can't say I blame him for worrying about what might happen. Kurama wasn't _meant_ to be controlled. None of the biju were, and if you can control the biju, you control the Jinchuuriki, too, so I can't blame him for trying to hide me away in order to protect me and everyone else, even if it hurt. What I _do_ blame him for in all of this is that I never got to see Itachi, and especially you, the two last born Uchiha, grow up. Itachi tried chasing after me, so Fugaku insisted that I leave the country. I never made it to your birth and Fugaku _forbade_ me to have any contact with either of you. I could see he hated the order as much as I did, since he always used to tell me that his childhood was made so great only because I was there to take care of him and his cousins, but if I had stayed at that time, things could have gotten only more complicated."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as he leaned forward, his interest peeked all over again on _this_ topic.

"Danzo had been trying to paint the Uchiha as traitors who want to break the Allience up and rule over all the shinobi nations. Rare few had trust in your clan so the propaganda spread and was accepted easily. If I had been there, they might have ended up chasing your family into exile. To have a Jinchuuriki _and_ their biju so loyal to a single clan ..." Naruto shook his head in regret. "It didn't matter that we helped protect both Konoha and New Konoha all those years."

"So you just ... left?" The raven haired one asked, staring at the bright haired teen. "Just like that?" That didn't seem right to Sasuke. It didn't sound like Naruto at all. He may have known the guy for just a couple of days, but he got the impression that the blond never gave up. "You just ... gave up?"

Naruto looked affronted by the questioning accusation and he showed it by humping and crossing his arms over his chest. "Of course not! I didn't _want_ to leave nor did I want to miss out on your and Itachi's lives. But it were difficult times. A little after you were born, New Suna attacked us and one of your cousins, who Kakashi took a liking to, died. And while everyone had been happy to see the back of my head as I was leaving, they blamed the Uchiha for me not being there to fight the other Jinchuuriki. They blamed them for the loss of lives, never mind that fifteen Uchiha died protecting New Konoha." It was growled out and Naruto's eyes flashed red in anger but a few slow breaths calmed him down. "And then not long before the massacre," Sasuke cringed while Naruto paled as he said the word they both hated equally as much. "Another of your cousins died."

"Uchiha Shisui," Sasuke stated with a nod. "Nii-san beat up three of my twice-removed uncles in his grief. He apologized right afterwards and they forgave him, but it didn't bring Shisui back. He was Nii-san's best friend."

"Yeah. Itachi told me Danzo stole Shisui's right eye and Shisui's mother gave him his left; he had put it in his will that if he died, his eyes were to go to Itachi. I spent a few months researching if it was true and where he kept it, but I think Danzo beat me in the race."

"You think he ordered a hit on my clan?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." The blond answered as he checked on the stew and started stirring it. "He had no qualms doing so before for anyone he thought a threat to his own position. And if the Uchiha found proof that he indeed did steal Shisui's eye, then everyone in New Konoha would gladly hold him down while your clansmen killed him."

"So where were you that night?" The mortal of the two shinobi's asked curiously, no accusation in his tone. It was probably why Naruto answered at all.

"I was still trying to find proof, but I got an emergency page from Itachi and I teleported to the scene just in time to protect you two. No one knew I was in New Konoha and I wanted it to stay that way, so after making sure that I really _couldn't_ save anyone else, I hid and watched the proceedings from the shadows." The blond leaned heavily on the counters on either side of the stow and talked through grit teeth. "I could only watch as they tried to tear your lives apart even more and get Jiraiya and Kakashi the documents they would need to win custody of you two. Itachi held up great but I was worried about you. You were _so young_."

"Itachi had the Sharingan when he was my age. I think I handled the situation poorly."

"Don't be an idiot." The other grumbled at him.

"Why didn't you come to take care of us if you raised so many other Uchiha?" Now _this_ question was slightly accusing and Naruto turned around to face the other teen again. "You could have just announced your presence to the Council and had moved right back in to look after us."

"You sound just like him. Itachi made that point, too, and as the technically new head of the Clan, he could remove Fugaku's request. And he did." The stew started bulbing and Naruto took it off of the heater, instead placing an oiled pan in its place and letting it heat up do he can place the chicken nuggets on it and fry them. "But I didn't go back. Why? Because I knew I had to find out who was skilled enough to kill of an entire clan of geniuses, most of whom had their Sharingan, fully matured, and a lot of battle experience. Itachi and you survived that night and you had protection - myself, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade and others loyal or who owed the Uchihas - but you never know when they would come back. So I did my best to find them. It was hard, as they leave no trace behind, but I still got a few things. I had hoped that I would catch them before they came back for more, but," Naruto took a shuddering breath as the oil sizzled and he threw in the chicken. "I failed. Again. And they got Itachi."

Sasuke flinched before the words registered and the underlining meaning became quite obvious. "You think the accident ... wasn't an accident?"

"It's too convenient." The blond explained. "Itachi seems to have found a lead and he went to investigate it himself - I tried to tell him that he shouldn't go, that it's too dangerous and that he has you to look after, but he just said he trusted me to take care of you if anything happens to him and went anyway. A bad habit your predecessors seem to have picked up from me, so please don't follow suit - and he ended up in a plane accident somewhere over the Bermudian Triangle, where accidents like this happen all the time. The Shinobi Alliance went out to search for him only because I insisted, but they declared him dead and that his body had burned to ashes due to the intense heat." He turned around and walked over to the owner of the house and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder in comfort, knowing this was probably too much but the teen needed to know these things. Sasuke was right: he was kept in the dark for far too long.

"And they made me bury an empty coffin." Was the hollow reply as Sasuke stared off into space, those god awful memories coming back full force and making him shy away from the warm hand that was providing comfort. When he remembered those days, he tended to draw into himself and avoid physical contact like the plague, not wanting to get so close to someone again, just to lose them all over again.

"Tsunade-baa-chan tried to convince me to stay with you - and I was tempted, I was _really, really_ tempted, but your life was now more in danger than ever. Besides," the blond said as he moved back to turn the chicken over. His voice sounded unfocused as he concentrated on the task at hand as he spiced up the meat. "I had to keep looking for Itachi before someone else finds him. I knew Jiraiya would look after you until I could come back and that Kakashi will be a good teacher for you-"

"Wait." The Uchiha interrupted and Naruto's blue eyes looked over to him over his shoulder. Sasuke was staring at him with a ... strange expression, something between hope, shock and disbelief flashing in his black eyes. "Wha-What did you just say?"

"That Kakashi would be a good teacher?" The confused blond repeated, alightly shocked to have heard the other stutter like that.

"No, before that." Sasuke sounded winded when he demanded and blond eyebrows furrowed as their owner watched him. Still, he thought about it and understanding flashed through cerulean eyes.

"I guess they never told you that tidbit, either, huh." The tanned male grumbled before turning for who knows which time to fully face his charge. "The circumstances under which it happened, the timing, the place, the cause of death ... I found it too suspicious. After they declared it an accident, an ordinary plane crash, I conducted my own search. I'm still searching for him today."

"Speak plainly, damn it!" The agitated sixteen year old snapped and Naruto ran a hand through blond locks of hair in a tired gesture.

"Sasuke, I never believed in that story, those reports." Blue eyes met Sharingan red, shock very much clear in those red orbs. "I'm still looking for Itachi because I think he's alive and in danger."


	13. Chapter 13

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

 **A/N: The song that appears in this chapter is one of the many things I really love about Naruto! Natsuhiboshi everyone! Please enjoy and don't be shy to leave a review!**

"What?" The shocked teen gasped out, placing a hand over his racing heart, not believing his ears or his eyes as they registered the intell Naruto's voice and lips were sending. There was just no way ... "No. I can't go through this. Not again." His free hand moved to clutch the bangs by his right eye, covering said orb from sight. "If he were alive, Itachi would... He would ... Nii-san would have come for me!"

"You know he wouldn't." The Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki reasoned. "He knew his turning up to pick you up would alert whoever wanted him dead that they have failed. It would make you a moving target." He put the pan away from the heater and walked over to Sasuke, bringing his hands up to cup the slightly taller teen's face. The touch startled Sasuke, but Naruto didn't move away. "Itachi was angry his family died, he was angry more and more things kept me away from you two and he wanted to solve all of those problems so I could come back to you two. But more than anything, he wanted you to be safe and happy. And a life on the run wasn't going to bring that."

"How are you so sure he's even alive?" The older looking one asked. "How do you know he's not really dead? Or that it really was just an accident or if it wasn't? How do you know Itachi is still somewhere out there?"

The hands tightened and Naruto's gaze glazed a little before focusing back on the teen in front of him. It was abnormal how fragile Sasuke appeared at the moment. It didn't suit the Uchiha at all. So he snorted lightly to try and lighten the mood, to lift the tension so Sasuke would calm down a bit and gather his wits. The sound seemed to startle the other but he stopped gripping his hair so tightly and fully focused on the boy touching his face.

"Itachi has made a legend for himself because of his skills as an untouchable shinobi who never got hurt. I know he's strong and you do, too. You're just afraid to bring your hopes up and watch them potentially fall back down, even deeper than before. And that's perfectly normal. I know how close you and Itachi were." Sasuke stopped gripping his bangs altogether and instead gripped one of the tanned wrists as he listened. "Besides, I know that he has a technique that creates an ultimate, invincible defense around his body that would protect him. He has good instincts and senses, so I know he would have more than enough time to put it up."

"What is it? The technique?"

Naruto wanted to chuckle, but he didn't. Sasuke was asking questions again, which meant he was going back to his normal, bastard self, slowly but steadily. "We can talk about that another time. Anyway, it's one of the reasons I think he's still alive. One of the reasons I _know_ it." Serious blue eyes captured captivated red ones in a hold Sasuke knew he couldn't break if he wanted to. And he didn't. There was something calming in that sky blue color. Sasuke enjoyed it very much. "Besides, I have a _... source_ , let's say, from which I can find out if he's dead or not. In the past couple of years, it's been showing he was still very much alive. Still is. I checked it just two days before Kakashi dragged me out of the Ryūchi Cave."

"Is that ... source reliable?" The last - or maybe not - Uchiha asked, gripping the wrist tighter, a warning that he wanted the absolute truth. Naruto nodded once, their gazes never wavering. "Is he really alive? My Nii-san..."

"You know he is." The blond stated. "I may not have raised you or known you personally for very long, Sasuke, but I _was_ there for Itachi's 'funeral'," the Immortal finally pulled his hands back to make air quotes and Sasuke snorted, despite himself. It earned him a small smile from the slightly shorter shinobi, one that seemed to wipe all his doubts away, even if just for a second. "I saw how you were looking at that empty coffin, Sasuke." The smile was replaced with a gentle look that didn't show any happiness but plenty of care and worry and, most of all, only the truth. "You never let go. In your heart, you knew he wasn't gone and you held on. You didn't let go."

"And I never will." The dark haired boy replied, still holding onto the Immortal's wrist as his Sharingan finally faded back to black.

"And you shouldn't." Naruto confirmed with a determined nod. "I promise I will find Itachi and bring him back home. And I never go back on my promises. It's my way of the ninja!"

Sasuke snorted again as he finally moved away from the blond, sitting at the table once again. "The era of ninjas is over, dobe."

"Teme! Came the furious bellow. "So what!? The way of the ninja is transcendental!" The blond complained but hid a smile. It would seem Sasuke was fine for the moment, so Naruto turned back around and walked over to finish the meal he had started making. "Though, seriously, Sasuke. You should get more in touch with the ninja side of your family. I think your clan was the only clan left who occasionally acted more like ninja than like shinobi. And having a way of the ninja _could_ make your life easier. You can make it into a rule you will never break. For instance, Lee took after his father and grandfather, Gai and Dai, so his chakra ways are completely and utterly closed off. Yet all three of them have made it their way of the ninja to still become excellent shinobi despite being unable to use ninjutsu and genjutsu. Kakashi's ninja way is to never allow a comrade to die in front of his eyes and Ero-sennin's is to find real, lasting peace. Mine is, as I've already said, to never go back on my word. It's easier to live by one rule you will never break than by thousand others you will almost always break."

"Hn. I'll think about it." The Uchiha said, looking away from his guest. As soon as Naruto had stopped talking, a strange thought had flashed through Sasuke's mind: an eternity with just him, Naruto and Itachi. But he's not going to aim that high until he knows whether his big brother really _is_ alive or not.

They spent the rest of their free time until the others came in preparation for obnoxious people like Kiba or reckless ones like Lee, moving all the valuables and breakables out of the halls and the rooms the guests would be allowed in, all the while discussing mindless topics with an important one here and there. For instance, Sasuke learned Naruto has had a ramen obsession since he was four and he loved to wear orange because it was the color between the two colors that represent his parents. He also revealed that he and Jiraiya had a bit of a talk about Naruto, but the blond wasn't surprised. Then, to Naruto's shock, Sasuke started talking about his rare few likes and dislikes, such as his like for tomatoes and his dislike towards all things sweet.

They talked like this until they heard repeated ringing of the doorbell by the front gates, so much so that Sasuke looked ready to murder Kiba, for who else would be so idiotic to piss off an Uchiha? The teen went out to let the group in while Naruto made some tea for them all. Soon enough, loud voices filled the silent house. Kiba and Sakura were arguing about, you guessed it, the dog lover's annoying ringing while Lee talked at Sai and Neji thousand words a second while the two ignored him. Hinata and Aburame Shino followed the group inside and they all stumbled to a stop when they saw that Naruto was already there. The blond arched an eyebrow at them before he had to defend their dinner from a hungry Akamaru and an equally hungry Kiba. Sasuke looked annoyed when he finally reentered the kitchen and he glared death at the Inuzuka before flooring the mutt.

They ended up having that early dinner straight away before they migrated into the living room, sprawling all over their designated futons while Sasuke prepared the movies they could watch and Naruto and Sakura got them drinks and snacks and cleared up the mess they left behind in the kitchen. They came out carrying five big bowls of popcorn and two big bowls of candies while Kurama grumbled behind them about him not being a waitress as he carried out their drinks on his tails. The first movie, they went through without a snag. It was an action movie, so everyone liked it equally, although many comments were dropped about how this or that would be easier done like so and so. Sai, Sasuke, Shino and Neji didn't say much, but Lee and Kiba more than made up for it. And then, during the second movie, a horror flick, Kurama joined in, laughing at all the gruesome scenes and getting the dog lover and the taijutsu user pissed or unnerved respectfully. Then the fox proceeded to scare the shit senseless out of them all, save Naruto, when he started talking about things _he_ considered scary. Even Sasuke looked disturbed by the end of it and had they not watched a romance comedy after that, Naruto had no doubt none of them would have been able to sleep that night after Kurama's bloody tales of blood-drenched battlefields with bodies strewn all around.

After they got bored with the movies, Kiba insisted they play some board games. Imagine all of their horror when he pulled Life out of his bag and made them play. Lee and Hinata seemed to enjoy it while Naruto and Shino mostly shared a bored staring contest while Kiba tried to rail up Neji and Sasuke. Sai and Sakura were enjoying their win and the pink haired girl was taking things a tiny bit too seriously when one card demanded she marry Sai. She nearly killed the poor artist. Then Lee nearly prowled her over when, on the next turn, he becomes her secret Romeo. Kiba had a good laugh when Sasuke's card told him to marry Naruto, only to shut right up when Kurama (who had insisted on playing as well, or else he'd keep them all up till dawn) got a card said he should become an assassin and that his first target was Kiba. Needless to say, there were awkward moments and amused glances and laughter and cursing. By the time Naruto emerged victorious, even Shino was a little more open.

Sakura then suggested playing 20 questions, which Naruto refused and instead smugly took out a few video games that had the boys gawking. Hinata and Sakura soon matched their excitement as they began playing, resorting to cheating every now and then. For the first time since he awakened it, Sasuke wasn't ordered to not use his Sharingan, although everyone complained about the advantage it gave him. Even Neji, Sai and Naruto were glaring at him, but the Uchiha had no qualms to smirk at them all, earning eye rolls. He and the blond then got into a racing game competition and nearly destroyed the counsels with how hard and fast they were hitting the buttons. By then, Kiba broke out the bear and they all agreed to tell stories. The Immortals held their new friends' attention with little effort as they talked about their past battles but even as he was having fun, Naruto kept casting glances Sasuke's way with a heavy frown every now and then. Sasuke didn't notice, but Neji and Kurama sure did.

They went to sleep at around three in the morning and that was only because Naruto insisted. After all, they had school in the morning. Of course, this was met with tipsy protests, so Naruto kind of just knocked them out. Sakura shook her head at Lee's, Kiba's and, surprisingly, Sai's behavior. They helped him put them into their futons before going to their own as Kurama did them the favor of getting the lights.

Everything was quiet for about half an hour and Naruto wondered what was keeping him up despite he himself feeling tired. It took a lot of energy to feed eight growing teens besides himself and a giant dog, too, after all. And then all the activities ... Really, he should have been as knocked out as the rest of them. Yet here he was, lying awake and staring at the full moon outside of the window nearest to him.

And then he heard it. A whimper. So quiet one might have mistaken it for the wind outside. So muffled it really might have come from something not in the house ... Except, as both an Immortal and as a Jinchuuriki, his senses were a lot sharper than a normal human's were. So Naruto knew the noise hadn't come from something outside. Without wasting another second, Naruto sat up and allowed his eyes to turn red. Rarely anything escaped him when he used Kurama's eyes. But he could see that no one was awake. Another whimper broke the quiet of the night and the blond's head snapped in the direction of the sound, surprised to find himself staring at the door that lead out of the living room and into the hall.

The Uzumaki jumped to his feet when he heard a louder noise, almost a wail, and he sped quietly down the halls of the silent mansion. He turned a corner and quickly walked towards the door the noise was coming from, pointedly ignoring all the other rooms around him that should have been letting out slight or loud snores, contented sighs or grunts in the sleep of people who were no longer there. Instead, he opened the mahogany doors and entered the room uninvited. He took a second to scan his surroundings - the room was painted sky blue that probably matched his his eyes in daylight, which surprised him, with a navy blue carpet on the ground, covering the wooden plaques covering the floor. He wasn't surprised by the big Uchiha fan on the wall, but the bareness of the room did surprise him. Aside from a black dresser and the bed and work desk, Sasuke's room was empty. The only personal thing in the whole room were the three pictures by his head on the nightstand. A family portrait, the Clan group picture and a picture of Itachi and Sasuke - before walking over to the source of the whimpers. He sighed when he saw pale fingers clutching the black and midnight blue comforter and he placed his tanned, slightly smaller hand over the Uchiha's. The clutching fingers flinched at the touch but didn't move away from the warm hand.

But the nightmare didn't go away. If anything, it seemed to be getting worse. Sasuke had started mumbling to himself in his sleep, phrases about his dead clansmen, his lost childhood, the brother he still clings to. Naruto knew there was nothing he could do. Sasuke was calling out to people not seen or heard from in years and while Naruto _could_ act like one of them - henge was one of his best jutsus, after all - if Sasuke were to wake up with his Sharingan active, as most Uchiha are wont to do when experiencing a nightmare, he would see right through it and might lose what little trust he had in Naruto if it looked like he was trying to deceive him. But shaking the taller teen's shoulder proved ineffective and he wasn't going to start yelling, as it might wake the others and Naruto doubted Sasuke is the first ever Uchiha to want others to see him so vulnerable.

 _'I guess there is no choice,'_ the blond thought as he took a deep breath, more to calm his own nerves than in preparation for what he was going to do. He cleared his voice slightly and started humming the tune of a song long forgotten by the modern society but one that Naruto will never forget, as it was a friend's favorite song. A lullaby his mother had sang to his friend ...

''Natsuhiboshi, naze akai?

Yuube kanashii yume wo mita.

Naite hanashita.

Akai me yo.

Natsuhiboshi, naze mayou?

Kieta warashi wo sagashiteru

Dakara kanashii yume wo miru

Natsuhiboshi, naze akai?

Yuube kanashii yume wo mita.

Naite hanashita.

Akai me yo

Natsuhiboshi, naze mayou?

Kieta warashi wo sagashiteru

Dakara kanashii yumewo miru''

By the time Naruto stopped singing, not only was Sasuke calmed and his nightmare gone, but he had also woken up to the feeling of gentle fingers running through his hair in soft circles that only made him drowsier than he had been. He looked up to where Naruto was observing him as he massaged Sasuke's scalp and the Uchiha sighed in content. He snuggled closer to the warm body sitting at the edge of his bed and fell right back asleep to the continued sound of Naruto humming the song again and again.

It would only occur to him in the morning, when he wakes up with a blond Immortal cuddled up to him in his bed, that Naruto had sang and had done so voluntarily. For now, he just enjoyed this moment.


	14. Chapter 14

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

And indeed, when morning came and the two teens woke up, Sasuke didn't know whether he should be smug that Naruto had sang for him or grateful to him for chasing away that horrid nightmare. He was almost used to it by now, seeing the carnage of the massacre as his brother fought to protect him, imagining Itachi's face as the plane started falling or some times exploding to a million pieces. He always saw these nightmares but usually there was no one to break him out of them.

And now there was Naruto.

Sasuke kept thinking about the blond even as said Immortal started preparing breakfast for them all. Like last night, all the alcohol he consumed seemed to have no effect on the blond what so ever as he hummed quietly to himself while preparing the omelets. Having heard Naruto singing had left Sasuke both humbled and confused. Sure, he had needed something to calm him down but he had never expected for his supposed guardian to sing for him. In fact, Sasuke had thought he'd literally need to dangle himself over a shark pool if he wanted the four hundred year old teen to sing for him. Now that he's heard him, Sasuke wondered why any Uchiha would _want_ Naruto to sing in front of others. He must have been crazy to want Naruto to be their lead singer. But, alas, he's committed himself to getting the blond to sing for their band and now his pride and his conscious were at war with each other while his heart and mind were warring over if he should be worried so many parts of him were acting like different entities. Seriously, this could _not_ be normal.

But it was fact, and Sasuke knew it, that Naruto had sang for him last night. He had done so to chase away a horrible nightmare. He had sang for him despite having repeatedly told them all that he no longer sings. Not for adult Uchihas nor no-matter-what-age anyone else. And for that, for stopping the nightmare before Itachi can be blown up in the horror of it, Sasuke will forever be grateful to the Immortal.

"What are you thinking about so intensely this early in the morning?" The object of his musings asked and Sasuke broke himself out of said musings, blinking up into blue eyes as their owner put the plate of food in front of him. He looked down and saw two perfectly made sunny side up eggs with ketchup making the decorations of a swirl and-

"Is that the Uchiha fan?" He asked curiously and watched with even greater fascination as Naruto turned beet read.

"Shit, I did it automatically," the blond muttered as he reached for the plate, only to yelp when Sasuke slapped his wrist. "Sasuke, what the hell!?"

"I didn't say I didn't want them. I just asked about the design." The older looking teen said with a scowl. "And what's with the swirl? It kind of looks familiar."

"It ought to, since it's placed on every chuunin and jonin vest as a sign of friendship with the Uzumaki Clan and Uzushiogakure, an old alliance that means nothing now that most people don't even know about Uzushio." Naruto grumbled while tending to his tender wrist. Man, Sasuke ought to control his hits better. He wasn't an enemy, damn it! "Anyway, sorry about all that. I'm kind of used to making eggs like this after a _very_ long period of time of doing it this way."

"How long?" The Uchiha asked curiously.

"Hm, let's see," Naruto mumbled while he counted back the years. "I'd say over fifty years. Maybe even longer. Can't remember clearly. I know I definitely made them for Suzu's fifth birthday and that he called it cute, but I can't quite remember if I started three days before that or three weeks."

Sasuke stared at him like he was crazy. "Naruto, do you ... _know_ every Uchiha's birthday?"

The blond looked at him as though _he_ was the strange one. "Of course! Most of the time I was even there when they were born! I maybe skipped out on ten labors because I wasn't able to come back in time, but I was usually the one helping with the labor. In fact, over 50% of your clan were held by me before their own mothers, since the doctor handed them over to me to clean them up while they finished up with the mother."

"Was that the case for Itachi?" The normal human couldn't help but ask and a small grin spread on Naruto's lips.

"Yeah. He didn't want to be held by anyone else if I was around. Fugaku found it cute half the time."

"And the other half?"

The grin turned into a teasing smirk. "He was jealous that his kid liked me more than him." Sasuke's jaw dropped and Naruto burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you should see the look on your face!"

"Wait, are you messing with me or something?" The indignant teen asked and Naruto shook his head despite still chuckling at the expression he could still so clearly see in his mind.

"No, you just made a really funny face. Man, I haven't laughed like that since Shisui's death." The blond sighed and wiped the stray tear from the corner of his left eye. "But seriously. It's not so strange. Every Uchiha adored me as a kid. A few black sheep in the family grew to hate me when they got old - those usually had mothers that hated me - but during most of their lives, I remained a dear friend, trusted ally and loyal advisor. And then I became their kid's favorite person and a few of them were occasionally jealous of me. It's only natural for a parent to want to be their child's most favorite person, but they understood since they acted like that, too."

"How many were there that hated you?" Sasuke asked as he finally started eating his breakfast. He hated cold eggs. He wouldn't eat them unless they were warm.

"Well, it's actually not _hate_. They just wanted to distance themselves from me. One of the reasons Fugaku's decision was to send me away instead of just _hide_ me away was because of your grandfather, his father, Mincho." Naruto explained as he started making more breakfast and some coffee. If he was right, he just heard someone stirring in the room the others were using to sleep in. "Mincho's mom married into the Uchiha Clan and she hated me with a passions because both her husband and then her son liked me so much. She grew bitter and tried to get Mincho to hate me, but that only made him stick closer to me as a result, fearing I'd disappear. Anyway, years passed, both his parents passed away, he became the head of the family, got married to a really nice woman and Fugaku was born. It wasn't until Fugaku was three that he started seemingly hating me. By the time Fugaku was five, the people of the clan were always glaring at him for how cold he was towards me. And then there came the situation with Obito."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as he nibbled on a piece of toast. "And this is really good, by the way."

"Glad you like it!" The blond chirped before returning to his story. "Well, Obito fell in love young and it gave Mincho and one of your great uncles that you never met hope that my 'seductive charms'," there went the air quotes, almost choking Sasuke when he snorted. "Weren't _all_ _powerful_ and _irresistible_. Then Izumi-chan fell in love with Itachi when they were five, too, and Mincho made plans to kick me out. A year later, right before you were born, Fugaku had to find a way to protect me and sent me away. Mincho was happy for about a year before he fell ill. He stayed in bed for a week without food and only the minimal amounts of water. He knew he was dying and he asked Fugaku to call me." Sasuke nodded along, thinking he knew how this ended. Naruto had come and they probably had a short heart to heart before the old man died. "I never answered."

Sasuke choked on his bread. "What!?"

"I never answered."

"So you just let him die on bad terms with you!?" The Uchiha hissed, his like for the blond rapidly dropping and falling into the dislike zone. What kind of person would deny a dying man's wish.

The look on Naruto's face showed him disgust to even be thinking like that about him. "Of course not! I just never answered the call! I came the very next day and stayed with him for two hours, just before he died. I held his hand the entire time. Mincho died with a smile on his face."

"But you just said-"

"If I answered, everyone would know I was coming. Back then, I was determined to stay away, thinking maybe my own presence was putting the clan in danger. I spent years searching for the threat to the Uchiha and found them only on that horrible, horrible night." A shudder ran down both their spines when they thought back to the massacre.

Wanting desperately to change the subject, Sasuke blurted out the first thing he thought of. "So you trained most of the Uchiha?"

Naruto looked at him with obvious relief that he had asked about something else. "Yeah. In fact, in the last four hundred years, I only didn't train you and Madara's sons, Tobi and Shin."

"So that means you're a pretty good fighter _and_ you know some of my clan's tricks, right?"

"Don't worry, we'll start your training soon enough." The blond reassured just as Sakura walked into the kitchen with a yawn and made a beeline towards the coffee pot. "You definitely need it. You've got talent but you're seriously under-trained. You can't even use your Sharingan right!"

"Sasuke-kun so can!" The pink haired girl protested. "Kakashi-sensei said he was doing marvelously in mastering the Sharingan and that most Uchiha his age aren't so good with it."

Naruto looked at her as though she had just grown another head. "Sakura-chan, let me make this very clear to you." The girl bristled at the tone he was using, the one most people used when addressing a mentally ill child. "Kakashi, while a marvelous shinobi known far and wide for his use of the Sharingan, only knows the copying aspect of the eye he got from a friend. He never even learned about all the things that the Sharingan can do because his friend died young and Kakashi's Sharingan never developed to that second stage." Looking towards Sasuke, the Immortal furrowed his brow. "I have a suspicion that Sasuke _might_ have reached that second stage of power but isn't aware of it yet. And Kakashi would be of very little help, since he knows nothing about it. The Uchiha have taught him only the basics. Anything else would have been too dangerous without the other eye."

"And you're supposedly the expert on all things Uchiha?" Sakura challenged. "Look, I know you're their guardian or whatever, but that doesn't mean you know everything about everything Uchiha related. Maybe Sasuke-kun just wasn't ready or Kakashi-sensei was waiting for the right moment to teach him other things about the Sharingan. Kakashi-sensei is smart enough to figure out the other powers of the Sharingan on his own." She huffed.

"Then why don't we test it out?" The Uchiha questioned. The two looked over to him as he finished his breakfast. "When everyone wakes up, we can have a bit of a sparring competition. We can begin my training that way." He said, looking at Naruto. "You'll see what I need to improve and I'll get to see just how competent my new 'sensei' is."

Sakura smiled. "That's a pretty good idea. I'd like to see how good this idiot is, too." She said while glancing at the blond Immortal. Said Immortal rolled his eyes.

"I guess it's not an all that bad idea, but I will fight you only as a three man cell." At the confused stares he got, Naruto bonked his forehead. "Right. You guys aren't ninjas. You don't know about teams. Great." With a put upon sigh, Naruto sat down at the table and gestured for Sakura to do the same. The girl took her breakfast plate off the counter and joined the two males. "Ninjas used to do missions in mostly three man cells. It was the first part of their training, learning how to work in a team. You two with Sai have been a three man cell for a while now, which means you should be able to fight pretty well together. But you guys were still in a lot of trouble that night against Kiba, Lee and the others."

"We've been drinking before that, you know." The two younger shinobi protested but Naruto didn't listen to the excuses.

"You three will first train as a three man cell and I will see all three of your skills so I can possible give you guys a formation that will be suitable for you. If you don't learn how to fight like a team, I'll be of very little use to you. I'll fight the strongest or deadliest foe but the weaker ones might find a crack in your armor and Sasuke will end up dead." The kunoichi and the Uchiha exchanged a look but neither could find a fault in his reasoning. Naruto did have a point. It had been pretty embarrassing with how easily Kiba and the others had beaten them. Only Jiraiya had been drugged so that his chakra became unstable. "It's the perfect way for me to test your Sharingan, too."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked curiously. Unlike Sakura, he had very little doubt that Naruto knew more about the Sharingan than Kakashi. After all, he had asked Jiraiya about Naruto and he _knew_ that the blond was raised by Madara, one of the best Sharingan users among the Uchiha. If anyone today knows _anything_ about the Sharingan, it had to be Naruto.

"The Sharingan, as you know, has amazing perception abilities. It can see through genjutsu, ninjutsu and even taijutsu. Yiu and Kakashi use this ability to stop the side affect of the Chidori, known as tunnel vision." Sasuke nodded along, having already known that but wondering how Naruto knew about him knowing the Chidori. "It also allows you to copy movements and keep track of your teammates. That's something we'll be testing today."

"I see no problem in that." The Uchiha replied just as Kiba, Shino and Hinata stumbled in, looking like death warmed over, Neji and Lee walking behind them fresh and rested.

"Coffee," Kiba begged. "Please, coffee." Naruto wordlessly got up, pushed the dog lover into one of the empty seats and brought the pot and a mug for everyone as he pured them coffee. Kiba downed his in one gulp and immediately asked for another, which he proceeded to sip like a normal person. "Ah, that hit the spot."

"I told you not to drink that much last night. Why? Because you'll get a hangover in the morning." Shino chastised the Inuzuka and Kiba groaned, pulling his hood up to completely cover his head as he put his forehead on the table.

"We were just lucky Lee didn't drink." Neji muttered as he shook Hinata awake from where she'd almost dropped her head into the breakfast plate Naruto had just put before her. "Or else this whole place would be in pieces."

"And Lee would be on fire." Sasuke casually said, glaring at the green clad taijutsu user to show who would be setting him on fire in the first place. Lee grinned shakily while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"So what's on the agenda today?" The bushy eyebrows teen asked excitedly as Sai finally came in, looking as though he hadn't been completely floored with alcohol not so long ago.

"Actually, we just agreed on some training." Sakura informed them and suddenly everyone was wide awake. "Sai, you, Sasuke and I will be sparing with Naruto after breakfast."

"We have school." Neji reminded. They all looked at the clock and saw they only had half an hour to make it to their first class. "So this training session will have to wait until this afternoon. I'll bring Tenten along." No one protested that and just slowly finished their breakfast.

"Oh, by the way, guys," everyone looked up when Naruto spoke, seeing his mischievous grin. "I think we should name our band. Does anyone mind The Six Path Sage?"

There was a long moment of silence before everyone's jaws hit the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Needless to say, everyone was shocked that Naruto had changed his mind. When the blond had left the Uchiha Main House, the other teens had immediately questioned each other if someone had done or said something special, but they came up with no answers amongst themselves. In the end, they turned to Sasuke but the Uchiha kept tight-lipped. In truth, he was in as much shock as the others. He had not been expecting Naruto to accept being the lead singer but he was happy, as he suspected it might have something to do with how close they have gotten in the span of a few hours.

In the end, they declared the sleepover a great success before the others ran off to get ready for school while Sasuke calmly walked towards the said establishment. Their classmates were even more surprised by Naruto's change of heart but they grew curious about the name and the music they'd play. Iruka happily wrote them down as The Six Path Sage and gave them the time-plate of when they were going to compete for the rights to be the band representing the school.

The rest of the school day was spent like any other, except the group from the sleepover was much closer than before. They ate together and talked during the brake and some of the more childish ones even exchanged notes during classes, until a teacher caught them and threatened to give them detention. All in all, they acted like normal teenagers and Sasuke, for the first time since his brother's supposed death/disappearance, felt a smile tugging at his lips most of the time.

And then school was out and the group, along with Tenten, migrated to the Uchiha Compound's training grounds for the promised spars and training session. Needless to say, they were all quite excited to see how their resident oldest Immortal was going to fight against the last Uchiha and his two protectors so far. Everyone but said fighters were sitting on the roof of the nearest house to stay out of their way as Sasuke, Sakura and Sai got out of their uniform while Naruto just took off his school jacket and shirt, putting on a black muscle shirt and the coat he always wore. The others were ready when the blond was putting on his hitai-ate.

They were in formation with Sakura in the middle and Sasuke and Sai on each side of her. Naruto observed them with an arched eyebrow, trying to see the logic of the formation. He, of course, knew that Sakura was Kakashi's and Tsunade's student, meaning she must be a medic and Sai was from Root. Jiraiya told him all about them. But he didn't need to tell him that Sakura must have incredible strength if Tsunade taught her nor did he need to know that Sai was a long range fighter. Just looking at him is more than enough of a clue. Sai wasn't built for close combat. He was tall and looked skinny. Sure, as an Immortal, he was a lot stronger than his frame will give away, but he wouldn't stand a chance against someone who had been strong as a mortal, too. Sasuke only had the Sharingan to rely on and that was only as much as Kakashi knew about it. Sure, that was a lot more than any other person knew about it, but Naruto knew a lot more about it. He'll make sure Sasuke learns all there is about his Clan's Kekkei Genkai.

He waved to Neji to let him know he was ready and the other three repeated the gesture. The older Hyuuga nodded and raised a hand. The rest of the shinobi quieted down and settled in for one hell of a fight. On the downwards swing of his arm, Neji declared the beginning of the fight. "Start!"

The three younger shinobi sprung apart and started running around Naruto at an impressive speed, keeping in step with each other perfectly. Naruto resisted the urge to call upon his Sage Mody or even Kurama's power. As talented as they were, it would be unfair to them if they had to face him at one of his strongest points. He had to judge their skills, not send them to the hospital. The first attack came from Sasuke in the form of twenty shuriken and thirty kunai sent his way. Naruto dodged the kunai easily but Sasuke had attached string to some of the shuriken and was pulling on them left and right, a trick he must have learned from Itachi, making the shuriken come back towards the blond at every turn. As he continued dodging, Naruto realized he was coming closer to the edge of the training grounds and that Sai was now on the offensive. Ink snakes slithered up all over his body, holding his feet firmly to the ground and effectively immobilizing him just as Sakura charged at him, her right fist raised and poised for one hell of a punch. Naruto quickly tore off the snakes around his torso and arms, raising his own right arm when Sakura was a step away ...

A tremor shook the ground as Sakura's punch landed. Everyone winced at the force of the hit but were left flabbergasted when they opened their eyes and saw that Naruto had effortlessly caught her punch. That was impossible! No one had ever stopped either Tsunade's or Sakura's punch! The looks on their faces must have made their thoughts more than obvious to the immortal because Naruto chuckled at them.

"We Uzumaki have wonderful natural chakra control. Most of the time we don't even need to train to be able to channel our chakra into punches and kicks." He channels his chakra into his feet and Sai's snakes burst into pools of ink on the ground as he took a step forward, pushing Sakura back. "Not to mention I grew up around Tsunade-baa-chan. When I was eleven, she finally agreed to show me what her own mother, Uzumaki Miko, had taught her. When I became an Immortal, I could stop her own punches unless she was _really_ pissed."

The shinobi all shivered at the thought of a really, _really_ pissed off Godaime but their attention was brought back to the fight when Naruto grabbed Sakura's still outstretched arm with his other hand and threw her over his shoulder. She barely caught herself before she hit a tree and prepared for further battle just as Sai lunged for Naruto. The black haired dormer Root agent was good at maneuvering kicks and hits but Naruto had many more years of practice than him. It was intense and fast, almost to the point that they were only a blur to the normal eye. Sai would drop to the floor and try to kick Naruto's feet from under him but the blond would jump up high into the air, landing behind Sai and kick him to the side while the pale teen was trying to get out of the way. Sai would then send his drawn lions at the Immortal but that's when Naruto decided to make things more interesting.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He said while making a single hand seal, a cross like position while dodging the attacks of the ink lions. With a popping sound, three more Narutos appeared, two tackling the lions while the third took hold of the original's hand and threw him at Sai.

"Katon: Gokakyo no Jutsu!" But before Naruto could reach his target, a fireball nearly nailed him, making him change his direction and come to a stop. He looked over to Sasuke, who was making another series of hand seals but he was distracted from his charge by a war cry from above him.

"Channaro!" Sakura yelled as she made to punch the blond from above but Naruto got out of the way at the last minute. The ground now looked as though a meteor had struck it where the kunoichi had punched and Naruto had to hand it to her. Had that hit him, he would be sporting more than a few broken bones, ribs and maybe his spine, too. He looked over to his side when he heard a roar and cursed when an ink tiger charged at him as though he were fresh meat.

 _'This has gone on long enough,'_ he thought and called upon a few more Kage Bunshin to distract the two. He heard an all too familiar sound that resembled the chirping of a thousand dying birds and looked to his left to see Sasuke charging at him with the Chidori in his left hand, his red eyes making him look almost demonic in the light of his attack. _'I guess I have no choice.'_ He turned around swiftly as a mass of chakra started appearing in his hand, swirling around and around quickly to form a ball of pure energy. He thrust his hand forwards just as Sasuke lifted his hand-

Only for the sixteen year old to disappear from in front of him. Naruto didn't even need to look behind himself as he lifted his left hand, also sporting the spiraling ball of chakra to know that Sasuke had reappeared, ready to use the Chidori on his turned back. Sasuke's eyes widened as their attacks clashed, sending the airborne Uchiha back across the training grounds with a giant BOOM while Naruto held in place by using chakra in his feet to keep him rooted in place. The explosion from the collision of their attacks was first as black as space but then it turned so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes. When the light died down and it was safe to look again, Kiba let out an impressed whistle.

"Damn, that was one _hell_ of a clash!" He said excitedly as they all stared at the smoke from where the explosion had taken off a good chunk of earth from the ground and had burned a lot of grass. Naruto had remained in his place and now stood on a lone pillar of earth with a little grass on his feet while a crater surrounded him. Sasuke sat up from where he was flung by the attack, rubbing his head and neck as he looked up and froze. Naruto was glaring at him.

"Never, ever, _ever_ allow Chidori and Rasengan to clash." He warned in a grave tone. "Had I used my full power, both of us could have lost an arm!" Sasuke looked down at his arm and paled at the burns already present. He hadn't gotten such burns from the Chidori since he was first learning the technique. If he didn't get this treated, he could lose all feeling in his arm from the elbow down to his fingertips.

The blond soon had to spin around as Sakura and Sai attacked together, a tanto in hand for them each. Naruto took out two kunai and started defending himself, cursing the little ground he had. He jumped off of the pillar and threw his kunai at Sakura and Sai, pulling out a scroll and summoning a big shuriken out of it. He sent it flying at Sai while he met Sakura halfway for a bit of hand to hand combat. The girl had a lot of skill and she used her smaller figure to her advantage perfectly. She had speed but she didn't have Naruto's experience, especially not with speedy fighters. Every Uchiha was extremely fast because they had to do a lot of body activation exercises so their body doesn't force itself to catch up to the speed of their Sharingan and end up hurting themselves. Naruto had to be the one to help them with this sort of training and after four hundred years of such training, of sparing with such fast opponents, not even Lee or Gai could catch him off guard. Sakura wasn't nearly as fast as an Uchiha. He could easily dodge or block all of her attacks and he was stronger than her, even when she molded all of her chakra into a single hit.

Sai soon joined her in fighting him, having snuck up on Naruto from behind but Naruto had sensed him. He was not only a sensory type and had Kurama's heightened senses, but he was also the guy who lived with mischievous young ninja for four hundred years. The Uchiha started training their kids young and the first thing any of them learned was stealth. The Uchiha Clan always had enemies and they wanted their kids to be able to defend themselves or sneak away unnoticed should there be a fight that the adults could lose control of. They, of course, more often than not, used their newly learned skills to try and sneak up on Naruto at every opportunity. After the first three generations that he taught, Naruto got used to it and his body reacted on its own whenever a presence appeared behind him. As such, he got the first hit on Sai but between him and Sakura, Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. They'd land a hit or find an opening to his vital points and if that happened, then the spar will be over and in their favor. Deciding he needed to end this - for Sasuke's sake, too. He had a nasty burn that needed to be looked at and fast - Naruto channeled some chakra around himself and flung the two younger Immortals back, to the opposite sides of the crater. He quickly made four Kage Bunshin and sent them to guard Sai and Sakura, two each. They were going to point kunai at their necks to show they were 'dead' so they could end the spar.

However, before the second clone could place his kunai besides Sakura's neck, it screamed in pain as black flames suddenly engulfed it. The flames quickly spread to the other clone and made to spread on to Sakura - who was staring in wide eyed fear, completely paralyzed - had Naruto not reacted in time. He flung one of those strange kunai right beside her head and one in the spot he was currently standing before disappearing with a brief flash of yellow. He appeared beside the pink haired girl and disappeared again, returning to his original place and watching as the earth there caught fire along with his kunai.

"What's going on?!" A panicked Tenten screamed as the flames continued spreading all over the earth, closing off the three teens in the crater. Kiba made to lung for their friends to help them but Neji tackled him to the ground.

"Let go of me, damn it! They need help!" The dog lover screamed at the Byakugan genius and Neji pressed down harder on him when he began struggling with vigor.

"We can't help them! We don't even know what's going on!" The long haired brunet yelled at the Inuzuka. "If we go in now, we'll only be a burden to Naruto-sama!"

"We need t-to trust that Naruto-kun will be able to keep things under control." Hinata said to the others even as she tried to see through the raging black flames. She was visibly shaken and afraid for their new friends but she knew there was nothing they could do. It was up to Naruto and maybe Sas- "Neji-nii-san, where's Sasuke-kun?!"

"You can't see him?" The incredulous older Hyuuga asked as he finally got off of Kiba. When his cousin shook her head, he closed his eyes before snapping them open. "Byakugan!" His vision suddenly became black and white and he could see in a circle, all around himself. But he couldn't see anything beyond the black flames, not even his friends' chakra signatures. "I don't see him either. In fact, I can't see anything because of this fire!"

"Kiba-kun, can you smell them?" Lee asked as he stared worriedly down at the fire. The Inuzuka shook his head, chewing on his lip. "There has to be something we can do!"

"We won't have to. Why?" Shino speaking up surprised them but they followed his line of sight when he pointed a finger towards the left side of the crater. "Because Naruto saved them."

"On thank Kami!" Tenten breathed in relief and Akamaru barked excitedly. "Well, I guess we should start dealing with the fire. I have a sealed water dragon here," she said as she reached for a scroll containing said dragon, only to yelp in shock when a tanned hand stopped her.

"Don't throw anything at the flames!" A slightly singed Naruto ordered as he put Sakura and Sai down. He was glowing like the sun and had been carrying the two younger Immortals in two of his nine chakra hands that fanned out behind him like a peacock's tail. His entire being was as gold as his chakra and his eyes were red with a cross like pupil as he stared out at the fire. His clothes were marked with strange black designs, as were his whisker scars painted with it while the tails of his hitai-ate stool out almost like fox ears. "You'll just spread the fire! Don't move from here!" And he was gone again before anyone could react.

Naruro found himself where he had seen Sasuke last before taking Sai and Sakura away. The boy was clutching at his eyes and temple, doubled over on his knees, letting out a scream of pain every now and then. The black flames had spread a great deal by now and the Immortal knew this had to be stopped before the flames reached the houses. Sasuke will never forgive himself if he accidentally destroyed the only remains of his clan and family, even if it was by accident.

"Sasuke!" He called out as he knelt besides the Uchiha. "Sasuke, snap out of it!" He shook him by the shoulders, trying to bring him out of his pain. Nothing but the ignitor of these flames can stop them. They were already out of control enough to burn down the whole of New Konoha and there is now way it will stop there. Tokyo and then the roads and fields around the megalopolis will catch fire and so on until nothing was left to burn. "SASUKE!"

"It hurts," the raven finally uttered and Naruto sighed in relief. He was back.

"Sasuke, you need to stop this and fast!" He yelled over the roaring black fire. It was only a few feet away and they were going to die if they didn't get out of here.

"I can't! I don't know how! I don't know how it even started! My eyes just started hurting-"

"We don't have the time for that, teme," Naruto said as he rightened Sasuke up, letting the taller teen lean against him. "And yes, you _can_ stop this! These flames are yours to control!"

"How!?" The panicking teen demanded, still not letting go of his eyes. He was positively _terrified_! He had just reacted to seeing Sakura's life seemingly in danger. He wasn't even aware of what had happened until his eyes started burning so much that he wanted to pry them out of their sockets and squash them with his own hands if it was going to stop the pain!

A cool hand settled over his own hands and gently pried them off of his face but Sasuke refused to open his eyes. "You need to look at them and _will_ them to stop, to go away. This is just a product of your Sharingan, Sasuke." The words were whispered soothingly in his ear and Sasuke ft himself relaxing with each syllable that left his supposed guardian's lips and entered his ear. "It's under _your_ control. Only you can stop these flames. Hurry."

When he felt the heat getting too close, Sasuke opened his eyes and was greeted with a _giant_ wall of black fire, menacingly towering over him and the blond who hadn't moved from the moment he had gotten to Sasuke's side. He was kneeling between Sasuke and the fire, glowing like a beacon and chakra spanned out around him in an attempt to keep Sasuke and himself safe. Red eyes widened when they met the equally bloody red eyes of the Uchiha before Sasuke looked over the blond's shoulder, through the cracks of the protective chakra hands, directly at the black flames. He stared at them, feeling like they were drawing him in until he heard Naruto hiss when one flame licked his chakra hands and Sasuke snapped back to himself. He glared at the flames and they seemed to gain a second wind before hastily disappearing, leaving not a trace behind.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto and noted how singed the other looked, feeling guilty until a bout of vertigo hit him and he nearly collapsed had his companion not caught him. "Oi, don't faint on me!"

"Tch, I'm not weak, dobe. I'll be fine," he grumbled as he clutched at his head. Damn, but his eyes were stinging like someone had pocked at them with a toothpick until they bled. In fact, what was that warm, sticky substance rolling down his face? He touched it with his fingers and brought it before his eyes. His vision was blurry but he knew it was blood. "Did I hit my head or something?" Suddenly, a cloth was covering his eyes, rendering him blind. "Hey, what's the big idea!?" He asked as he heard cheering in the distance.

"Teme, you big idiotic teme!" The blond scoldingly grumbled as he tied his hitai-ate around the mortal's eyes. "You're eyes are overused enough as it is! You need to rest after using Amaterasu like that!"

"Amaterasu?" He was getting dizzy again. He knew he must be leaning against Naruto, but he was losing focus and consciousness pretty fast that he couldn't really be sure. He had already lost control of his body. He was only half aware that he was still sitting up so he must be propped up by something and only Naruto was nearby.

"I told you you weren't even aware of how developed your Sharingan is, Sasuke." The blond's words sounded so far away. "You have the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Mangekyo ... Sharingan ..." And then everything went black.


	16. Chapter 16

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Sasuke woke up to complete darkness. Black, black and only black around him with his eyes still hurting like all hell. He hissed and moved his hand to rub at them, only to be stopped by another hand just as his fingers made contact with cloth.

"Don't," the familiar voice of Naruto commanded. "Your eyes are still no doubt far too sensitive to be exposed to even the minimal amounts of light. You need to rest up for a while longer before you can take the bandage off."

"How long was I asleep?" The Uchiha asked with a cracking voice as he relaxed his arm, silently letting Naruto know that he won't further aggravate his eyes. The hand left his and Sasuke instantly missed it. He needed to know he wasn't alone right now, since he couldn't see anything and everything was so silent-

Until Naruto started humming and a glass of cold water was placed at his lips. Sasuke greedily drank everything up, being careful not to choke himself until Naruto drew it back. "About five hours. I recommend another three to four before you even _think_ about opening your eyes. Amaterasu has that nasty side effect after it's used. Even though Sakura-chan did the best she could to ease it up on your eyes, you'll still need a lot of time to recover."

"Amaterasu ... You've said that before, too, right before I fell unconscious." Sasuke stated in a questioning way, clearly indicating that he expected Naruto to explain. The blond sighed and sat beside Sasuke on the bed, probably knowing that the mortal needed some sort of physical contact at the moment. Sasuke wondered if his ancestors had acted this way, too, after this ... Amaterasu thing.

"Amaterasu ... Amaterasu is one of the deadliest and most perfect offensive doujutsu in existence and it can be performed only by a member of the Uchiha Clan." The Jinchuuriki began. ''But for a person to perform it, they have to gain the powers of the Mangekyo Sharingan, something they can gain only if they lose someone precious. How this power has been kept dormant for all these years behind the mask of an undeveloped Sharingan I will never understand.'' The blond mused to himself, confusing Sasuke further.

''What is this ... Mangekyo Sharingan?'' He asked finally and the Immortal paused to correctly word his response.

"Mangekyo Sharingan is the second most perfect form of the Sharingan. It develops when an Uchiha, usually with an already fully developed Sharingan, witnesses their best friend, brother, lover, just someone really, _really_ close and precious die right before their eyes. The emotional turmoil triggers the chakra being directed to the eyes, the chakra that had created it in the first place, and it forces the pupil to develop into a whole new shape, granting the owner of the eye some incredible, never seen before powers, one of such being Amaterasu." The blond explained, pausing to make sure Sasuke was following. It then occurred to ask him a very important question. "Wait, do you even _know_ how the Sharinganis develops?"

Sasuke actually snorted at the question. "I know I seem rather clueless about my clan and all, but I am not _that_ clueless. I know how the eye generates the Sharingan. I _do_ have it."

"So? A few people managed to steal the Sharingan over the years but they never understood it." The blond argued back before shaking his head, not that Sasule could _see_ he was doing it. "But that's besides the point. The point _is_ that I was right and your eyes are far more developed than even Kakashi or Jiraiya know or realize. What I _want_ to know is how this happened."

"What?" The Uchiha asked. "Me getting the Mangekyo? I don't know."

"No, not that. I can guess as to that." The Immortal waved it off and could practically _feel_ the glare behind the bandages Sasuke was still forced to wear as the mortal shinobi frowned in displeasure at his vague response.

"You mind sharing that theory," was his sarcastic comment and Naruto stuck his tongue out at him, just because he could. Hey, he might be 415 years old but he was still a teenager! He could act childishly at times. If no one was around to see just how childish he could be at times.

"Like I said, the Mangekyo is developed under the emotional stress and turmoil of losing someone dear, mostly a best friend, a sibling, a parent, a lover or spouse, right before an Uchiha's eyes. The person they lose must be _really_ important and precious for it to happen." Naruto explained again, leading Sasuke into his reasoning. The Uchiha nodded to show he got it so Naruto continued. "Which means you got _your_ Mangekyo Sharingan when Itachi was presumed dead."

"But I didn't see him die," the raven pointed out, uneasy with the mention of his brother's possible death or missing status. Seriously, these were just two _wonderful_ days, and even _better_ weeks (and please do note the sarcasm. It's so thick Sasuke fears just his thoughts will suffocate him now). Couldn't he just get a break already?

The Uzumaki chuckled somewhat bitterly. "I somehow doubt that. Tell me, when you have nightmares like the one you had just last night, what do you see?" The silence that resonated around them was more than answer enough and Naruto nodded to himself thoughtfully. "I thought so, too. You may not have seen the _actual_ death of Itachi, true or not, but you've had nightmares about it for years. I _guess_ that could explain how your development stayed secret. It happened on a subconscious level. Or you _could_ have been hiding it subconsciously yourself. _Something_ in your instincts told you to keep it to yourself and you did. And then you reacted on instinct today, at the thought of losing someone dear to you again and it activated. I don't know if we were lucky or unlucky that it was Amaterasu as opposed to some other techniques you could have activated."

"Like what!?" The raven incredulously demanded, wondering just what the _hell_ could be worse off than those black flames that would have burned everything to the ground. "Just what the _fuck_ could be worse than this ... Amaterasu?"

"Well, for starters, Tsukuyomi, your brother's unique doujutsu." That had Sasuke freezing in an instant as Naruto explained. "It's the strongest illusionary technique ever, as it can trap a victim in an illusionary world with the barest eye contact, a mere second of it. Once in that world, Itachi can show them whatever he wants. For however long. He once accidentally trapped Kakashi-sensei in it and he went through 72 hours of torture. In a millisecond." If Sasuke could open his eyes right now, they'd be as wide as saucers. "Tsukuyomi can show you an entire lifetime of 80 years in a nanosecond, Sasuke, but the results would kill you. With a single glance, Itachi could kill a man."

"Wow, that _is_ bad. I could have killed someone!" The Uchiha realized, horrified that some of his new friends could have died in such a way, and by his own hand- er, eye! And then he remembered that only Immortals had been in the fighting area with him and he relaxed slightly. Only to tense up again when he remembered what the Hyuuga elders have said about the Uchiha Clan. " _Can_ Tsukuyomi kill an Immortal?"

"Oh, yeah," there was a strange tone to his companions voice and Sasuke dearly wanted to take off the bandages so he could see Naruto's face. "It sure as hell can. Itachi is a naturally peaceful person, but ..." There was a moment of silence and Sasuke felt Naruto shudder from beside him on the bed where he was sitting. "But even Itachi has his limits."

"What happened?" The said man's younger brother couldn't help but inquire. Naruto sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Itachi went through the same training as you did to become a shinobi. He was put in what would have been called a genin team with a jonin sensei had this been a ninja village when he was seven. When he turned eight, their team was attacked during a mission by some mysterious man, an Immortal, a shinobi who worked for no one of the Alliance. He killed Itachi's first friend, activating Itachi's Sharingan. Sometime after ... _that_ day, Itachi had a run in with him while on a mission with Yamato. Yamato reported that Itachi wasn't quite so merciful to give him a swift death. The man screamed for a whole minute before dying. When asked later, Itachi reported he gave him three hundred years of torture before letting him die." At the horrified face Sasuke was making even with the bandages, Naruto was quick to add. "Itachi was under stress at that time. He had to keep you and himself out of Orochimaru's and Danzo's and many other bastards' hands, to work to keep the company, the compound, he was still an active shinobi to boost... It was just too much to be reminded of his first loss so shortly after such a big one. Like I said, even Itachi has limits."

"I'm not ... horrified at Nii-san," Sasuke hesitantly admitted. "As far as I'm concerned, Itachi never did something without a damn good reason behind it. That guy was obviously an enemy and a very dangerous one if I understood well." After all, only the strongest and the stupidest of a generation dare leave the safety of a shinobi community. Rouge shinobi were killed like missing nins were, once upon a time. "I'm more horrified as to what power a single glance can hold. Is Amaterasu like that? Are there other such doujutsus?"

Naruto paused as he regarded his charge. He wasn't exactly all that surprised to hear Sasuke didn't think ill of Itachi because of his momentary lapse in control. Everyone has their limit, even someone as seemingly perfect as Itachi. Besides, the bonds of brotherhood in the Uchiha Clan are extremely strong. Especially so for someone like Sasuke and Itachi. They were the two youngest Uchihas of their time. Izumi was a few months older than Itachi and Shisui was a few _years_ older than her. They were the youngest and then the _last_ two Uchihas. Itachi became Sasuke's whole world in a single night. His parent, his brother, his mentor at times, his caretaker and provider, his protector ... Itachi was simply everything. He became the only source of Sasuke's smiles and happiness. And then he died, too. To hear he might still be alive would no doubt reawaken that old admiration and adoration for his older brother in Sasuke and he'd do his best to see everything from every angle if it meant finding that his brother was doing a good and not a bad thing. It was both a good and a bad thing. It was good because Sasuke will look at everything at every angle. It was bad that he will only do so for Itachi. Sure, for Itachi it _is_ the most needed since that guy has reasons behind his reasons when he does something and you need to look underneath the underneath and sometimes even underneath that in order to get anywhere with trying to figure him out. But _still_ , it was a skill that would come in handy with other people, too.

''Yes, Amaterasu is like that. Since it burns everything to the molecular level, it can kill an Immortal. Very painfully, too.''

''Then how can you sit so calmly near me?!'' The terrified Uchiha asked, trying to scoot away. ''I could kill you, accidentally or not!'' He wouldn't risk it to kill Naruto. The blond was more than just his ticket to possibly seeing Itachi again. He had become a friend in a very short amount of time. For how short he knew him, Sasuke could no longer imagine his life without the strange Immortal in his life.

''Would you calm down,'' Naruto scolded, holding Sasuke down when he made to exit the bed. ''I'm fine, I'm safe as long as you don't get emotionally stressed and glare at me or something.''

''I'm pretty much emotionally stressed at this moment,'' the older looking of the teens said and Naruto rolled his eyes.

''Teme, just relax.'' Sasuke scowled at the insult but Naruto ignored him expertly. ''If it will make you feel any better, then I will tell you that you're not the first Uchiha who freaked out about the possibility of killing me.'' Sasuke frowned behind the bandages and resisted the urge to snort. What, another story about his father or brother? ''Madara feared he'd accidentally harm me for years,'' And now the Uchiha's mouth fell agape and Naruto just smirked, knowing the mortal hadn't been expecting that. ''So he and Izuna and a few other Uchiha of their time spent days trying to find some way to make me Amaterasu-resistant. And Kamui-resistant and hundred years later. And a few other specific jutsus that are specific to only one Uchiha. Kind of like Tsukuyomi.''

''Can _Tsukuyomi_ kill _you_?''

''Itachi kind of never tried so let's leave it at that.'' Sasuke guessed that was fair enough.

''So you're really as close to an invincible immortal as anyone could get?'' Naruto seemed to think it over before shaking his head.

''I'm immune to a few things, but let's face it. Your clan only kept developing, consciously or not, new ways to off the Immortals. They just made sure never to use them on me.''

''So everyone has a special power once they develop the Mangekyo Sharingan?'' Sasuke questioned further, stirring the conversation away from death, Naruto's, Itachi's or otherwise. He would rather not think about that while he had been so close to killing three of his friends, maybe even more had Naruto not jumped in to calm him down. _'He really is a guardian of the Uchiha, if he knows how to stop us from using such a deadly jutsu.'_

''No. Only a few people get special doujutsus. Madara, despite being one of the strongest Uchiha so far, had no special jutsus. Itachi did, as did Shisui and Obito.''

''Obito? I think I overheard Kakashi-sensei mentioning him a few times.''

''There's a story there, one I am really not up to sharing at the moment.'' There was pain in Naruto's voice so Sasuke let it go. For now. ''Besides, maybe it's best if Kakashi first tells you his side of the story before I go into the Clan business side of it.''

''I guess,'' the raven conceded with a sigh before something occurred to him and he turned his head in Naruto's direction. ''The others ... Are they okay?''

''Yeah, they're fine. A little shaken up, since it's been no doubt over a century since they'd last time felt threatened by death.'' The Jinchuuriki replied with a sigh of his own. ''Although, they were a bit more worried about you. After all, that was the first time they'd seen the tears of blood that happen when an Uchiha uses his Mangekyo Sharingan.''

Sasuke groaned. ''Sakura's going to be such a worrywart the next few days, isn't she?''

Naruto chuckled under his breath. ''I'd say a few weeks, judging from her glare when I sent them all home, so good luck with that one.''

The Uchiha just groaned again and wondered if his normal life was over. _'Well,'_ he mused. _'I guess it was over the second I realized that our family had some strange eyes when I was a kid. It was most_ definitely _over on the night of the massacre. Itachi's ..._ situation _only hammered the last nail into that coffin.'_

''You should get some more sleep,'' Naruto's voice broke him out of his musings and Sasuke focused back on him. ''You won't be able to use your eyes for a few more hours and when they settle, you'll have one hell of a headache, so you'll need your rest. And after that, we will no doubt have guests worried for you to carter to. And school.''

''I hate my life.''

Naruto's answer to him was a simple snort.


	17. Chapter 17

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Sasuke indeed woke up to a hellish headache the next morning, but thankfully Naruto had been there to give him aspirin as soon as he woke up and then he gave him some much appreciated and very delicious food. Sasuke was just glad he could take off the bandages and that his eyes no longer hurt.

But just as he finished his tasty breakfast, the doorbell rang and with a resigned sigh, Naruto had went to get it while Sasuke got up to go do his business. His legs were a bit shaky and he still felt pretty drained, but after having some food in him and a bit more water, he felt a hundred times better than jut a few hours ago.

That is, until his new - and now awfully annoying, due to his headache - friends barged into his bathroom just as he was about to take a leak. Had he been up to it, he would have chased them all out with the Chidori, but thankfully, Naruto had gathered all of their shirt collars in one hand - how he managed that will stay a mystery - and yanked them all out before they could collectively tackle him. Even after he finished up in the bathroom, Sasuke was still kind of reluctant to go out if it meant being tackled again.

He needn't worry, as he found a giant toad guarding the door to his bedroom. It waved at him with a ''Yo,'' before letting him get out. Even as he walked down the halls, the orange toad with purple markings continued following him. Once he reached the dinning room, he was greeted to the sight of all of his friends getting the scolding of their life by Naruto in an apron, which was just hilarious. They were all sitting on their knees with their heads bent and their hands in their laps as the blond waved around the dreaded guilty finger. Even Akamaru was sitting quietly with his head and ears down. Sasuke would have continued watching the comical sight had the toad not called Naruto's, and thus everyone else's, attention.

The others lunged again, only for Naruto to once again catch their collars and return them to their positions from a few seconds ago with an annoyed frown on his face. This sure was one hell of a way to start his morning.

Still, after a bit more of Naruto scolding them for the way they would have tackled the Uchiha, he finally let them hug him and all, but thankfully in a much more sedate manner that wouldn't hurt him or themselves. He found it a bit weird that they could still be willing to interact with him, let alone touch him, after they saw just what kind of destruction he could make with a single look. He may have passed out but be clearly remembered how the Amaterasu had been swallowing everything up like fire did gasoline. Yet here they were, fretting over him like mother hens.

Finally, it was Sakura who finally got everyone to give him some space so that she could check him over. Sasuke held very still as her glowing green chakra covered fingers, allowing the soothing feeling to wash over him. His headache slowly abated and he sighed in relief as some of the soreness left his muscles. He nodded to the pink haired girl. "Thanks, Sakura."

"Everything seems fine, but maybe you should rest for a few more days." Sakura said after another moment of searching for injuries and the such. Naruto had tried explaining to her what had happened to Sasuke and his body due to losing control of the technique but she still couldn't quite understand, couldn't _grasp_ the notion of such power behind a single glance. But she realized that Naruto hadn't been exaggerating when he said he knew the Sharingan as well as any born Uchiha. If there was anyone who can help Sasuke learn to control those amazing powers everyone was saying the Uchihas have, then Naruto was it. "How are your eyes?"

"Better." The last Uchiha replied as he sat down at the breakfast table, taking up the glass of apple juice Naruto was serving for them all. "I'm really sorry about yesterday. You all could have gotten hurt. Or _died_."

"It's okay," Sai replied, thanking Naruto for the offered drink the way he had read multiple times was good in society. Like it has been stated a few times already, ROOT had not been kind to its agents in terms of a social life and especially the emotional development they should have gone through. Sai was doing all he could to squash old habits. "You didn't do it on purpose."

"You didn't even _know_ you could do that." Kiba said with a burp as he downed the whole glass in one go and asked Naruto for another one. The blond rolled his eyes but got him a second glass before getting water for Akamaru and going over to talk to the giant toad he had had guarding Sasuke's bedroom. "So it wasn't your fault."

"But you should probably learn to control that." Neji threw in with a slight frown on his face. "That is an amazing power, a dangerous one at that. You need to know how to control it. We were lucky that Naruto-sama had been there to stop you from accidentally burning the whole of New Konoha down. We might not be so lucky again."

"Neji, there is no need to word it so harshly." Lee protested, seeing how Sasuke had tensed slightly as he was reminded just how close to death his friends had come because of him. "Sasuke-kun couldn't control it. He isn't to be at fault."

"I didn't mean it like that." The older Hyuuga protested but Sasuke cut in.

"But you _are_ right. I need to learn how to control this power before someone gets hurt." Black eyes met white before he turned to seek out blue ones. As if sensing his gaze, the Jinchuuriki looked up from his conversation with the toad, a curious expression on his face, silently asking what was the matter. "I'll get to training right away."

The whisker scarred Immortal glared at him. "Not for another couple of days you won't!"

"But-"

Naruto didn't let him protest. "Overuse of Amaterasu, or even just using the Sharingan after an intense usage of Amaterasu like you did yesterday could lead to permanent blindness." Sasuke grew pale at these news. "You need a few days of rest before you can use it again if you want to keep your sight. Not to mention that you've spent too much of your chakra reserves. You need rest. Not even taijutsu training is recommended."

Knowing he'll get nowhere fighting with Naruto on the matter, Sasuke turned to the only medic present but Sakura just shook her head. "Not even Tsunade-sama knows enough about the Sharingan for her to tell you when and how much you can train again safely. Just bear it for a couple of days, Sasuke-kun."

Seeing that he was defeated, Sasuke sighed but nodded in consent, getting an agreeing and pleased nod in return from Naruto. They all just sat there for a moment before, predictably, Kiba broke the silence. "So now what do we do?"

"We could try out to play a few songs together?" Shino offered and Lee lit up.

"That is a brilliant idea, my youthful friend! We must practice!" The green clad teen said excitedly, getting fired up in such a manner that Tenten and Neji leaned away from him, fearing that the 'fire of his youth' might actually burn them. It _should_ be impossible, but you just never know with a shinobi. "It will help us bond and we will become all the better for it!"

"I only have an acoustic and an electric guitar here, though." Sasuke pointed out, wondering why Lee was so excitable for someone his age. He had never been like that, not even when he was a child determined to make his brother play with him. He wondered if subduing the show of one's emotions was also an Uchiha trait. After all, he'd seen it plenty in his relatives. They only seemed to relax on the grounds belonging to the Uchiha Clan and that was only when there were no outsiders to see them. "And the amplifiers and speakers and the such for them. I don't have anything for you guys."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure Shisui used to mess around with drums." Naruto offered, thinking about whether those same drums had stayed after said Uchiha's death. "And Suzu _loved_ to play the piano. When the electric keyboards first started mass producing, he bought a professional one that would have even the richest bands orgasming if they saw it."

" **And I'm pretty sure Izumi has a mike or four somewhere.** " Everyone but Naruto jumped when they heard the rumbling, deep voice of the Kyuubi, whirling around to see the fox sitting in the doorway, having just entered. He was once again the size of a house cat, just like the first time Sasuke spoke with biju and Jinchuuriki. " **And didn't Mikoto used to play the flute?** " He suggested with a very unhelpful smirk.

Naruto rolled his eyes at his inhabitant. "Real funny, Kurama." The kitsune just smirked and popped out of existence, going back to his place in Naruto's head. The blond just sighed in exasperation before looking at the others. "What about the rest of the gear?"

"I've got Neji's base covered!" Tenten exclaimed happily, taking out a scroll from the little pouch all shinobi wore to store weapons in cases of emergency. She unwrapped it and made a hand gesture before something popped out of the seal in a cloud of smoke. Neji lunged forward to catch his instrument before it could hit the floor, a glare sent towards the sheepish looking Tenten. "Oops. Sorry."

"If you have a laptop, I can put in my thumb drive and activate the program I have installed there for a DJ set." Kiba offered, holding up said thumb drive with a smirk. Akamaru woofed excitedly. And the others were, too, at the prospect of finally hearing everyone playing together and seeing just how good of a band they might make.

Naruto looked at them all and sighed a long suffering sigh, turning to his toad companion. ''There's no chance of Gamamaru-Ōgama-Sennin needing me back at Mount Myōboku, is there?'' He asked hopefully but the orange toad shook its head at him with amusement.

''Have fun, Naruto.'' And with that, the toad popped out of existence, startling Akamaru and Kiba, who were not quite so used to kuchiyose coming and going as they liked. They were taught, like most of the youngsters today, to fear kuchiyose on sight and to treat them like an enemy instead of seeing what it wanted and why it was there. Naruto could understand, he supposed. Ever since the fall of the hidden villages, most stray kuchiyose were set there as traps for ordinary humans to fall prey to because ninja were angry of their way of treating ninja and all they have been doing and sacrificing for their country over the centuries. Shinobi were usually the one who had to clean up that mess ever since and so they taught their children to be wary of the once deeply trusted summons. In fact, only a few shinobi, mostly the Immortal ones, still used kuchiyose. Naruto could probably count them on both of his hands. People feared the kuchiyose and what they could do and only because some bastards have left quite a few kuchiyose to torment ordinary people.

"Who was that, anyway?" Kiba finally decided to ask, looking towards the seemingly fifteen year old teen. Said blond sighed and wondered if this day was ever going to end.

"That was Gamakachi. He's one of the toads from Mount Myoboku. Ero-sennin and I have a contract with toads for centuries already. I've seen him grow up." He explained casually with a shrug. "We've seen quite a few battles together. He's a good chap. Now who you really need to worry about is Gamabunta, his dad. He's a bit temperamental. Even Ero-sennin hesitates to summon him, but Gamabunta and I get along fine. Must be because of my Tou-chan," the last part he said with a far away look, lost in thought as he remembered all the stories of his father that he'd ever heard. From Madara, from Jiraiya, from Gamabunta, from Tsunade and from his uncles ... From just about anyone. Rare few had anything against his father, although he _was_ feared by enemy nations. But that was to be expected. He was a very talented ninja, after all.

"But why do you even have a kuchiyose?" The dog lover asked, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "I mean, why would you even _need_ them? You have the fox," Kurama glared at Kiba when the brunet pointed at him. "And you're Immortal and have tons of chakra and whatnot. Why would you even need summons?"

"Because Kurama and I didn't always see eye to eye," the ancient shinobi said and leaned his hip against the table near Sasuke's seat. "There was a time we couldn't stand each other. Kurama wanted out of me but we couldn't be separated or else we'd both die."

" **Naruto didn't trust me and I tried manipulating him. Multiple times.** " The Kyuubi continued on for his host. " **I even tried taking over both his mind and his body but there were a couple of failsafes his parents left behind to stop me from being successful.** "

"Not to mention Madara kept an extra close eye on us." Naruto added thoughtfully. "He pushed you back whenever I couldn't."

" **And I hated you for being my container, for imprisoning me like that.** " The fox said, facing his Jinchuuriki. " **And I hated you for being so precious to Madara. I wanted to hurt him** **through** **hurting you.** "

"I blamed you for my treatment outside of the Compound." The whisker scarred teen admitted. "But then I realized it wasn't entirely your fault, either."

" **I hated your treatment, too.** " Kurama said with a nod. " **You were just a kid, a child who by the stroke of fate became a Jinchuuriki. You didn't deserve their** **ridicule** **, not then and not now.** "

"There were times I _wanted_ to let you free, to give you the revenge you wanted against all the ninja who worked so hard on trapping you in the first place." Sasuke watched this strange exchange with fascination, the others too stunned to even follow through the words spoken. He guessed they were either stuck on the thought of Naruto and Kurama not getting along - the notion seemed quite impossible with how well they got along now, how they were practically inseparable - or by the thought that Naruto was so precious to Madara, one of the legendary founders of Konoha. "A vindictive side of me would take over and I _let_ myself drift enough for you to come out."

" **I never did.** " Kurama spoke quietly. " **I knew you didn't really want that, that you were just angry, at them and their treatment of you and of the Uchiha. So I never took up the chance. I knew you'd just hate me for it or that you might be exiled or executed if you suddenly pushed me back. So I never did.** " He nuzzled his kit from his perch on Naruto's shoulder, the blue eyes closing as he welcomed the intimate gesture that had taken them fifty years to get to. They were practically family, Kurama being like Naruto's protective, bad-ass older brother that loved to tease him but always had his back. And they might as well be brothers. After all, Naruto had grown right beside Kurama in Kushina's stomach.

"So since I didn't have Kurama's support, I trained extra hard to keep up with the Uchiha my age. They helped a lot and then Ero-sennin one day came for a visit and decided I should have a kuchiyose contract." Naruto casually continued the story, looking at them all with calm eyes. "My dad also had a contract with toads so I was very well welcomed by them. Mount Mobyoku became a somewhat second home to me when I had to leave with Jiraiya. I was hurt, dying and vulnerable, so more often than not, he would teleport me to Mount Mobyoku while he fought off any threat. In the meantime, I at least finished my Sage training a lot faster than anyone else had before. It helped a lot, later, when I first had to fight Pein."

"Who is this Pein?" Shino questioned, intrigued by the Immortal's story. Naruto was from a time far removed from theirs. He had different perspectives and thoughts on some of the subjects this generation of shinobi was thought to fear, hate, expect, love, respect and honor. He used ninja ranks to address people. He used kuchiyose, trusted them. He had seen many wars, both the ninja ones and the ordinary ones. He was so different that Shino wondered at times how he could stand to live in this modern world, where it was all about the money and the fame.

"Well, his real name is actually Uzumaki Nagato, but he calls himself Pein because that's mostly all he's ever experienced in life: pain. He's a war orphan trained by Ero-sennin but then he got this crazy idea that true peace in the world could only come from someone who knows true pain ruling it. So he and his two friends started an organization of mercenaries, of nukenin to be exact, and called it Akatsuki." Naruto said with a sigh, ignoring the shocked stares he got as everyone realized just _who_ the third Uzumaki their elders always talked about was. The leader of the most feared organization both the ninja _and_ now the shinobi world had ever know. Only the seemingly best had ever been recruited by the Akatsuki. "He's my uncle."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Kiba exclaimed, staring at the blond wide eyed. "One of the most powerful organization leaders in the world is your uncle?! What the hell!?"

Naruto snorted. "So what? Tsunade-baa-chan is my aunt and you're not making a fuss about that!" Promptly, everyone's but Sasuke's and Kurama's jaws dropped, causing the Jinchuuriki to roll his eyes with an all-suffering groan. Seriously, did they know _nothing_ of their history, the past of Konoha's ninjas that evolved into the shinobi they were today? Sasuke kind of had to agree. No one taught about their history today. If there weren't so many Immortals walking around and talking about the 'good old days', perhaps even the ninja arts they now call shinobi arts would have been long forgotten. A single century seemed to be more than enough to forget a thousand years of ninja culture and history. The only thing anyone seemed to care about these days was ways to make themselves Immortal.

"Is this really the time to talk about Naruto-sama's family tree?" Neji suddenly spoke up, a hidden threat in his words. Sasuke looked over to him to see the older Hyuuga glaring at them all with a very dangerous scowl on his face, veins tense and taunt around his eyes as his family's Kekkei Genkai studied them all, as though judging how much effort he'd have to put into taking them all down.

"No wonder the Council of Clans and even the Advisors want to get rid of you." The Inuzuka mused to himself. He didn't even notice when everyone else turned to look at him, too immersed in his own thoughts. "You've got your fingers in all the pies, as the saying goes."

For some unimaginable reason, this caused Naruto to recoil back before something dark descended on his eyes. Sasuke watched as Naruto disappeared and out once again came the tortured, shunned Jinchuuriki adopted by the Uchiha. He was locking himself in and them out and Sasuke was going to be damned if he allowed the blond to close himself off. They'd just started really talking to each other and Naruto was _not allowed_ to draw back after he had planted a seed of hope in Sasuke that his beloved older brother was still alive somewhere out there.

So he took matters into his own hands and drew the conversation away from the topics that are putting up Naruto's walls again with such frightening speed. "So, are we going to practice or what? I mean, we _were_ planning on trying out a first song together-"

He cut himself off when Naruto straightened up, put away his apron and just strode right out of the room and out of the house before anyone could get a single word in. Hinata tried calling out to him to stop but he either didn't hear her or just plain ignored the call. They could just stare at where he had left their sight when they heard the front doors opening and closing.

Kiba squirmed in his seat. "Was it something I said?"


	18. Chapter 18

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

They didn't see or hear from Naruto for the entirety of the weekend and the blond didn't come to school on Monday because Tsunade sent him on some special mission with Jiraiya. It had something to do with a strange bombing near Suna that had nearly ended up in the Kazekage's death, or so they suspected was the point of the bombing. Naruto happened to be the Kazekage's close friend and so they thought it suitable to send him and not someone else. Jiraiya went along for the ride as he had connections everywhere and would know best where to find information, something they seriously needed. They went and came back by teleportation, so Naruto returned sometime at two in the morning on Tuesday, or so Sai said the official report stated. By all means, Naruto should have come to school ...

But three periods have already passed and there was still no sign of the blond appearing anytime soon. If he didn't come by their lunch break, the Six Path Sage will have to forfeit their little competition with other hopeful bands and, if history served well, Ino's band was going to win this year, too.

Sasuke was actually starting to worry a bit as they headed towards their school's auditorium when lunch finally came by. Sai, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata were trailing after them as they headed towards where they certainly hoped Naruto was already waiting for them. He feared whatever connection they all made with the blond was destroyed by Kiba's careless comment. He still wasn't sure what had upset Naruto so much but the comment must have cut something deep and perhaps reopened some old wound? Sasuke wished he had went after his supposed guardian and that he could have stopped the blond from leaving, but he had been caught off guard. He guessed he shouldn't have been. Naruto had already disappeared on him once due to a conversation taking on a more personal or unpleasant turn for the biju container. He should have seen it coming, but he hadn't and now Naruto was avoiding them. Kiba looked wrecked by guilt and Hinata was trying to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, but Sasuke doubted it was reaching Kiba. He guessed he'd feel like that, too, if he had been the cause of Naruto's sudden disappearance from their every day lives.

When they entered the crowded auditorium, the first sight they were greeted with was Ino's annoying, triumphant smirk as she saw the lack of a certain blond. Sasuke glared at her and Sakura looked ready to start a shouting match with the light blond haired girl but she didn't want to disturb the other bands. Then Ino had to go since Shikamaru was calling her over, as it was now their turn. And like every year, they were great, better than any other band that had played before them or that then played after them. It was clear that they would win, like every other time. And Ino's arrogant smirk said it all: she had proven her point and had gotten one over Naruto, as well as winning.

Iruka-sensei smiled at the second to last band and thanked them for trying out, telling them to sit somewhere and wait for the final verdict as there was one more band to go. Then he looked towards the group of friends. "Alright, Six Path Sage. You're up."

Sasuke and Neji grit their teeth while Shino looked away. Lee exchanged an uneasy look with the girls and Sai. It was still Ino who answered for them.

"It would seem they are missing a member," she said haughtily. "And according to rules, when a band member is missing, the band is disqualified."

"So who's getting disqualified?" A voice said from behind her, startling her with a squeak. She whirled around to face a smirking Naruto, dressed in the same school uniform as everyone else, only he had his long jacket on over it, a nice contrast. He looked a bit exhausted but otherwise uninjured or troubled. Sasuke wondered what had kept him. Naruto didn't peg him as the tardy type.

Iruka smiled at the blond. "I see you made it." He nodded towards the stage. "Just in time. It's your turn."

"Right, Iruka-sensei." He threw a glance at the rest of his band and grinned at them. "Let's go!" And he jumped up onto the stage, going over to the mikes and speakers, adjusting them how he wanted them. The others quickly climbed onto the stage and Sasuke moved over to hiss at Naruto.

"Where have you been?" He glared at the blond's shrug. "We've been worried."

"I'm 415 years old, Sasuke. I'm more than capable of looking after myself."

"We'll talk about that later," he declared, sending him another glare. "What are we supposed to play? We never got to practice anything!"

"I think you all know 'Headstrong' by Trapt. I know because I had the liberty to ask around before coming here."

"You had no one to ask for me," he pointed out, since not even Kakashi knew he could actually play a guitar. And he never told Jiraiya that he still messed around with it every now and again.

Naruto finally turned to look him in the eyes, opal blues meeting onyx black. "Itachi taught you how to play. The song we'll be playing is a song Itachi once upon a time went through great lengths to have it written for me. The first thing he was going to teach you would have to be that."

Sasuke couldn't deny it unless he wanted to seem like a fool. Of _course_ Itachi would teach him such a meaningful song for him. It was the first thing Naruto sang for a grown up Uchiha in _centuries_! And it was the song Itachi got for him. So he nodded and wondered how this was going to turn out. They set up quickly and Naruto spent a few seconds checking with everyone if they were ready before coming back to his place by the microphone stall. He took it off with a smirk and placed the cord how he saw fit.

''Are you ready, Konoha High?'' He asked teasingly and got a short wave of applause for his antics, although no one was really all that motivated to clap for a rivaling band. Naruto suppressed a sigh and instead smirked at their audience. ''Let's begin.'' He signaled for Lee to give them a beat before they started playing and Sasuke was pleasantly surprised to hear that they sounded as though they had practiced for hours instead of just playing together for the first time. They sounded great. And then came the part they had all been waiting for, when Naruto stepped up to the mike and opened his mouth to sing.

 _Circling your head contemplating everything you ever said_

 _Now I see the truth I got a doubt_

 _A different motive in your eyes and now I'm out_

 _See you later_

Many of the kids jaws dropped as Naruto sounded great! He sounded almost better than the original and Sasuke wondered if more than just the lyrics had been written for the blond. The song to have been designed for Naruto from head to toe, or rather, note by note, lyric by lyric. And he knew it by heart.

 _I see your fantasies_

 _You wanna make it a reality baby paved in gold_

 _See inside, inside of our heads yeah_

 _Well now that's over_

 _I see your motives inside_

 _Decisions to hide_

Naruto closed his eyes for a second before opening them again, startling everyone with how fierce he looked right then in that one moment. Sasuke was reminded of the stories his brother once upon a time used to tell him, about a noble worrier who fought for their clan and their home village but had never sought glory for it. How he was a true shinobi, protecting and acting from within the shadows. It would seem that was Naruto.

He looked so fierce that Sasuke wondered if he was singing or going into battle. But given the beat of the song ...

 _Back off I'll take you on_

 _Headstrong to take on anyone_

 _I know that you are wrong_

 _Headstrong we're Headstrong_

It was just _perfect_. If Sasuke hadn't already known that this song was written especially for the blond, he would have thought so now, as he listened to the Jinchuuriki sing. A look at the rest of their band told him that everyone but Neji was throughly impressed. The stoic Hyuuga seemed a bit smug and Sasuke deducted it was because he either expected Naruto to sing this well or he was glad he got to hear him sing again. And their crow was definitely fired up enough for the song. In fact, the crowd seemed to be growing by the second. Sasuke smirked. This was _their_ turf now.

 _Back off I'll take you on_

 _Headstrong to take on anyone_

 _I know that you are wrong_

 _This is not where you belong_

Naruto was smirking at the fuming Ino, showing he knew just how _good_ he was. He had always known he was a good singer. Madara and Izuna never lacked the words to express how much they enjoyed it when he, as a little boy, sang for them. And this song made him always want to give it his all. He had liked Trapt since their first album. For Itachi to go so _far_ just for him, just to hear him sing ... He couldn't _not_ sing it. This was for _Itachi_. With even more fire, he sang on.

 _I can't give everything away_

 _I won't give everything away_

 _Conclusions manifest your first impressions got to be your very best_

 _I see you're full of shit is not so right_

 _That's how you play I guess you get through every night_

 _Now that's over_

He lost his grin and looked seriously into the faces of some of the students here, sending this message to all those shinobi.

 _I see your fantasies_

 _You wanna make it a reality_

 _Paved in gold_

 _See inside, inside of our heads_

 _Well now that's over_

 _I see your motives inside_

 _And your decisions to hide_

Being a shinobi is not something to be ashamed of. Hiding your motives isn't something that was going to fly with Naruto. He had seen their eyes sliding over to Sasuke, how some flashed with blood lust while others lusted for power. He moved over to Sasuke and the Uchiha smirked at him arrogantly but they pressed their backs against each other, looking out at the crowd together. And if they happened to look devilishly handsome like that, well, a good part of Sasuke's fanclub was filming and this was going to be on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, even the outdated MySpace in no time at all.

 _Back off I'll take you on_

 _Headstrong to take on any one_

 _I know that you are wrong_

"Come on!" Naruto shouted at the crowd and a good part of them followed his lead through the chores, bringing the atmosphere even further up. He gestured for Neji to come closer and the descendents of three out of four great ancient families stood together for the first time as they played like true rock stars for the students of Konoha High. The auditorium was positively _shaking_ as they all sang at the top of their lungs. Kiba just cranked it up and Lee grinned as he hit harder on the drum set.

 _Headstrong, we're headstrong_

 _Back off I'll take you on_

 _Headstrong to take on anyone_

 _I know that you are wrong_

 _And this is not where you belong_

 _Where you belong_

 _I can't give everything away_

 _This is not where you belong_

 _I won't give everything away_

 _I know I know all about_

 _I know I know all about_

 _I know I know all about_

 _I know I know all about_

 _Your motives inside_

 _And your decision to hide_

"I never thought they'd be this good!" Sakura shouted over the crowd to Tenten as they, Hinata and Sai sang along. The bun-wearing girl could only nod in agreement, cheering especially hard when Naruto boldly released Neji's hair from its loose ponytail. The brunet just smirked and threw his head back, his long hair arching elegantly and causing his own fanclub to go crazy with hearts in their eyes. Sasuke and Naruto just grinned.

 _Back off I'll take you on_

 _Headstrong to take on anyone_

 _I know that you are wrong_

 _Headstrong, we're headstrong_

 _Back off I'll take you on_

 _Headstrong to take on anyone_

 _I know that you are wrong_

 _And this is not where you belong_

 _Where you belong_

 _This is not where you belong_

Now it was Neji and Sasuke back to back, Naruto on his knees in front of them with the mike securely clutched in both of his hands, singing into it as the two guitarists moved their fingers light lightning over their instruments. Lee had worked up quite the sweat as he kept hammering at the drums and Kiba looked on the verge of howling like an excited dog. Shino's own fingers were a blur and even he was smirking at the crowd.

 _I can't give everything away_

 _This is not where you belong_

 _I won't give everything away_

 _Where you belong_

 _This is not where you belong_

Needless to say, everyone was blown away by how great they sounded, cheering and clapping for them when they were finished. Neji and Sasuke hauled Naruto to his feet as Lee and Kiba ran up to them, Shino calmly making his way over. Naruto was grining from ear to ear as he took hold of his charge's hand and the Hyuuga's, Lee holding on to Neji and Kiba going to the other side of the Uchiha, dragging Shino along. The cheers were near deafening as they took three bows. Iruka happily walked up on stage with a microphone of his own in hand, a big grin on his face.

"Well, it would seem that this year's winners are rather obvious. Everyone, give a big applause for the Six Path Sage, who will be representing our school on the fall festival! Let's wish them all the best of luck!" The cheering, if at all possible, got even louder. In fact, it was so loud that Tsunade and Jiraiya could hear it all the way back at her office and they both looked up from the report they'd been going over to look curiously in the direction of the school.

Jiraiya smirked proudly. "It would seem my boys and their band won."

Tsunade didn't know if she should smirk or bemoan herself.

After all, things were about to become only a lot more complicated in New Konoha.


	19. Chapter 19

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

The day of the festival arrived seemingly overnight, much to half the school's increased stress. People were either panicking over everything or were trying to convince themselves whether they should quit or that they _can't_ quit. Every after school club was giving it their all to prepare something special and interesting while each class was investing as much of their time for whatever it is that they had decided to do for the big day. They were short on time and so everyone was overworking themselves until everything was set. And now the dawn of the day they had been preparing for has arrived and rare few students could fall asleep in the night that preceded it.

One of those students was Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, although his insomnia had nothing to do with the festival itself. No, the blond was not stressing over the festival nor was he too excited about the dawning day. To him, this was just one of the thousands of festivals he was to attend in his Immortal life and they had kind of lost their charm over the years. He was not a kid anymore. He hasn't been a kid since he was _twelve_. To be expected, since he had nearly died back then.

No, it wasn't the festival that was keeping Naruto awake.

It was the piece of news he'd just gotten from Manda.

The giant purple snake had summoned him to the Ryūchi Cave just last night to tell him some very important news that one of the snake's fish friends had found out. Rather, they'd found the one thing the Shinobi Alliance had been searching for to prove that the plane crash was actually an accident and not a planned attack. The one thing the company that owned the plane had wanted to find in order to understand how one of their best planes had crashed without any warning.

They had found the Black Box and Naruto was going to be the first person who was going to see what information the damned device has on record. He'll have to contact some of his technician friends if he wants the information to be recovered and he'll have to keep the whole thing a secret. He still can't believe it had taken them _four years_ to find the damn thing! But what was _really_ keeping him awake tonight was the reason _why_ it had been so hard for the thing to be found.

The Black Box had been hidden by a genjutsu and a very _strong_ one. They had had Hyuugas in the area of the crash, but while the Byakugan could see through objects and all the way down to the bottom of the sea very easily, it just as easily can be tricked by a well placed genjutsu. They would have needed the _Sharingan_ in order to find the box but there was no way they were taking Sasuke out there and making him look through his brother's supposedly final resting place for a stupid box that may or may not have been destroyed. Not that they had even _thought_ to search for signs of genjutsu, which lead Naruto to this state of his as there had only ever been a very few people who could trick him with a genjutsu. It was near impossible, since Madara and Izuna and every Uchiha since then had helped him master spotting, recognizing and dispelling illusions since he could walk. Only few had still managed. Only one had been alive back then.

The Black Box had been hidden for four years because _Uchiha Itachi_ had not wanted it to be found.

And now it was.

It was currently with Manda and awaiting Naruto's next visit. The blond knew he won't make it to the festival if he were to start going over the recordings now. He had sworn on all his charges to Manda that he will _destroy_ the snake if the box wasn't there when he finally does come to get it and he knew the snake won't dare cross him after an oath like that. Everyone who knew him knew that he always kept his word. When he swore on the Uchihas, you were sure to see it come true, no matter how impossible it may seem.

But the problem with this whole situation right now was that the excitement of finding the Black Box was getting to him and his curiosity would not let him sleep. It was a good thing he was Immortal and could go a whole week without sleep without it showing in his appearance. It was an even better thing that he was a Jinchuuriki and Kurama would gladly give him an energy boost id he needs it later on in the day. The ancient fox was just as anxious about the recordings' contents as Naruto was. While Kurama had not exactly gotten along very well with the first few generations of Uchiha that Naruto lived with, the blond had managed to convince him to give each individual a separate chance to prove themselves either deserving or not of Kurama's contempt. Kurama was particularly fond of Itachi, since the long haired genius liked petting him when he had been a child, an activity everyone else but Naruto shied away from. They both desperately wanted to somehow find Itachi and bring him home alive and they have been trying to do so for years.

That Black Box may be their first and only reliable clue up to date. They'll need to review it soon, since those things tend to get damaged after being taken out of the water if they stay like that for too long. He'll need to go to Manda _tonight_ and have his experts ready to take the thing apart immediately. Every second could count. The four years the damn thing spent on the ocean floor could have already caused too much damage. Naruto was staking a lot of his hope on this one damned box.

Though it _had_ occurred to him that, besides the genjutsu, Itachi may have placed some other form of protection on the box as well. It would only make sense. After all, if Itachi had gone through the trouble of masking the box's presence, then surely he would make sure it actually withstood the elements behind that illusion.

 **"Naruto."** He looked up from where he was staring out of the window in his bedroom to look over to Kurama, who was standing in the doorway of said room, the size of a golden retriever as his red eyes gazed at his host. **"It's morning. The festival will start soon. You should get ready."**

"Thanks, Kurama." The blond replied, leaving his place by the window and walking into his bathroom at once, finally having glanced over to the clock. He couldn't believe it was already 7.15 in the morning. It felt like only five minutes had passed since he'd received the news from Manda. "Will you be coming along?" He called out as he stripped out of his sleeping clothes, getting ready for a quick shower. That will refresh him nicely and he'll be ready to once again be his cheerful self for the world.

 **"Yeah, but I'll stick on the inside."** The biju replied, jumping up on the human's bed and stretching out like a cat, allowing himself to grow a bit more until he was as big as a lion. Thankfully, his form had no weight unless he wanted it to, so Naruto's very comfy bed was safe from breaking. **"People would just annoy me if you took me as your pet and we don't know if any shinobi will be around."**

"You're getting paranoid."

 **"You never know who might be lurking about."** The fox very logically pointed out. **"For all we know, someone finally learned where Sasuke's going to school and they want to get rid of him."**

"Highly unlikely but not impossible," Naruto had to admit as he started the shower, adjusting the water until it was just right. "But I don't doubt a few shinobi _will_ be at the festival. Even if they are only Danzo's men." He frowned at the thought. "That might be worse, actually."

Sensing that Naruto was staring to wordy about the old bastard rather than the concert, Kurama rolled his eyes and called out to his Jinchuuriki. **"I'll keep an eye out for them. You just** **actually** **enjoy yourself for once."**

Easier said than done and they both knew it. How could they not, when the very fate of the Uchiha Clan was constantly shoved into their hands? They could very rarely relax. But Kurama wanted Naruto to at least have some fun. It would be the first time in a long while.

"I'll try, dattebayo!" The blond replied with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Kurama knew it was the best he'll get.

00000

"Oi! Naruto!" Kiba's loud yelling pierced Sasuke's ears more painfully than a blow horn and he, along with the rest of their group, glared at the dog lover who was excitedly waving the above mentioned blond over. "Quit dragging your feet! Get over here already!"

"Shut up, Kiba." Neji ordered with a disapproving glare but he let it up to politely greet the oldest Immortal around as the whisker scared teen grinned at them all in greeting. "You will damage our ears with your voice and how are we supposed to play then?"

"You seriously need to dislodge that stick from your ass, dude. It's making you crabby." Was the Inuzuka's reply to the Hyuuga, causing the older genius's eyebrow to twitch. He apparently wasn't in the mood for Kiba's ... Kibaness, not that he ever was, but he usually didn't show it this openly. It immediately put Naruto on edge. Something was going on and he knew he wasn't going to like it. Seeing Naruto's suspicious expression, Neji shook his head.

"It's nothing to concern yourself with, Naruto-sama. It is just that some of the people from the clan of a man who tried kidnapping Hinata-sama years ago are here and they have approached us earlier to warn us they will pay us back for tricking them by sending my father, already an Immortal, to them instead of following through and giving them a dead Hyuuga body."

"Those dudes from Kumo?" The blond questioned with a scowl and Neji nodded. "Listen, if they bother you again, just point them out to me and I'll deal with them."

"It is appreciated but not needed, Naruto-sama." The elder Hyuuga insisted. "Tsunade-sama is here and they will not dare do anything with her around."

Naruto flinched at this information. The old hag was here? Why would she be here? Probably for the sake. But the alcoholic beverages weren't allowed until late at night, when the school stands are already long since officially closed. Something smells fishy around here and it ain't the grilled tuna a few stands away from them or the octopus meat balls. If Tsunade was here then the Shinobi Alliance was waiting for something, expecting some sort of tragedy to strike.

He could understand their reservations, though. The last one to carry the noble Uchiha blood was here, after all, practically with a target painted on his back. It would be foolish not to send _some_ reinforcements should things go awry. But if _Tsunade_ was here, then so were ANBU agents. And if _ANBU_ was here, so were Danzo's ROOT. As if Danzo would allow the last existing Sharingan to slip him away. Naruto scowled just at the thought of the man.

"Naruto-kun, do you not like the festival?" Blue eyes blinked when the owner of said eyes found himself face to face and nose to nose with one Rock Lee. The Kyuubi's vessel took a wary step back as Lee cocked his head to the side, staring at Naruto with a half curious, half worried expression on his face.

Naruto just shook his head and called up a cheerful smile despite not feeling ut at all. He had kind of hoped the festival will distract him from the fact that he had some recordings to go over in the nearest possible future, but the festival was too dull for that. Well, dull in comparison to the many festivals Naruto had been to so far in his life. The Day of the Dead was particularly interesting in Mexico and the Brazilians sure did know how to throw a fiesta. And don't even get him started on the Greek. But even the more reserved and conservative festivals he'd been to in Japan were more fun than this. The students from the local schools hadn't really put all that much effort into it. To be expected. Most of them _do_ come from shinobi families.

But even _ninja_ loved a good festival.

 _Perhaps you should show him how_ **we** _used to do things back in our day._ Kurama suddenly pipped up, obviously even more bored than Naruto by the festival. Naruto felt a grin curling his lips, startling his companions.

 _'I agree, dattebayo!'_

New Konoha was going to have a festival it will never forget.


	20. Chapter 20

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

Sasuke didn't know what Naruto's grin was all about but he _did_ know he was not going to really like it. And he was right when he suddenly felt Naruto grab onto his wrist with one of his hands and waved at a random vendor at some stall as he dragged the struggling Uchiha behind him. All struggles were futile, what with Naruto's status as an Immortal giving him immense strength even _without_ the need to channel chakra into his muscles.

"Give me two watered down sake, my good man!" The blond yelled, seating himself in front of the stall and grinning at the old man running it. Said man grinned back, taken by Naruto's cheer and charm and gave them two little cups before pouring out their ordered beverage.

"The first round is on the house."

The blond's grin only turned wider. "Thank you!" Then he proceeded to take a swig before waving the rest of their companions over, looking Sai and Sakura directly in the eye. "Are either of you interested in a drinking game?"

"Naruto! We're supposed to stay sober!" The girl admonished then gave an incredulous gasp as the smiling Sai took a seat besides Naruto. "Sai! Don't you dare!"

"Relax, Sakura-chan!" The blond called, ordering two _pure_ rice vines from the vendor, who was interested in this drinking game. Especially since a few more people had stopped nearby to see what the commotion was all about. "People like _us_ would need to drink, like, seven gallons of pure alcohol for it to have any effect on us. We'll be able to keep an eye out for everything just fine."

"Wait, seriously?" The excited Kiba asked, coming to stand right behind Naruto, placing his hands on the 400 year old's shoulders. "Your alcohol tolerance rises _that_ much!? That's wicked awesome!" The dog lover exclaimed, throwing his arm around Naruto's shoulder and trying to push Sasuke out of his seat by Naruto's side. The raven haired teen just pushed him off. Never the less, the Inuzuka remained by the blond's side. "Do you get a headache later? Are you hung over later? How much have you drunk at once?"

"Yes, it does and yes it _is_ awesome." Naruto replied with a smirk and a toast with his watered down sake at his charge before chugging it down and enjoying the slight burn of the alcohol down his throat. "No, I don't and no. One time, I drank a local pub out of sake." The last was said in a whisper so that the vendor wouldn't hear and get suspicious. "It was fun."

"Sweet!"

"But it was for a special occasion." The whisker scarred teen warned, remembering the big wedding Uchiha Sarada had with some long ago forgotten ninja that he had once upon a time personally known and liked but was now just a faded memory for everyone else. And that was only two hundred years ago. He should have been remembered longer, as well as the cheerful, bright Uchiha he had married. Naruto shook his head, not wanting to get stuck in his memories now of all times. This was supposed to be fun, not sad. ''I usually don't like drinking that much, but it's always good for festivities!''

''Can we play this drinking game?'' The dog boy asked, wanting to see if he could defeat any of his still mortal friends. He was disappointed when Naruto shook his head no. ''Huh? Why?''

''Because we'll need you guys sober by the time the concerts start. Sai, Sakura and I can drink, keep Lee away from the alcohol at all costs- yes, I did hear of his condition. We don't need another drunken fist incident drawing attention to us.'' Naruto replied, interrupting Tenten before she could question him. No one asked how he knew. Gossip like that tended to travel real fast among the shinobi, especially the Immortal ones. ''You guys can have a bit of watered down sake at best. My treat, but no more than three cups, okay?'' Naruto sent a look towards the vendor, who happily nodded and brought out more cups, pouring out the alcohol. The more customers the better. He stopped to look at Sakura, having heard Naruto's words and wondering if she, too, will participate in this game.

Sakura sighed and nodded at the man, sitting on the other side of Sai. ''I guess I'll join in on the game.'' Some of their friends, including Naruto, cheered at this, earning a small smile form the pink haired girl and the group even more spectators, all very much interested with how this was to turn out. ''So, how do we play this game?''

''It's easy. Even people like us,'' and by that, he meant Immortals, in case no one had caught on. ''Lose some of our wits after a certain amount of alcohol. We'll play it simple. Each of our friends - or anyone here, if they wish to participate,'' he added with a grin to the curious crowd that had gathered. Some flushed at having been caught staring while the others were far more interested in the rules of the game to mind. ''Will give us some good tongue twister. The first person to make a mistake loses. The last one remaining wins.''

''And what do we get if we win?'' Sakura asked, curious as to what the reward could be. Because there _had_ to be a reward.

''The two who lost treat the winner to whatever they want. One ride,'' he gestured toward the rides that the city had set up. ''Food, drinks, games, whatever. And both losers have to treat the winner separately.''

''You've got yourself a deal.''

''Are we ready to begin?'' Sai asked with the same smile and Naruto grinned at the two. They all turned towards the group and waited for someone to come up with a good tongue twister.

''Okay, I've got one.'' Tenten announced happily, raising her hand while the others still thought. ''Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?''

The three took their first shot and then repeated the tongue twister perfectly, their minds still very much clear. The rule was, of course, to recite it clearly, coherently and _quickly_. No faltering. So far so good.

''Hyoko pyoko pyoko mi pyoko pyoko. Awasete pyoko pyoko mu pyoko pyoko.'' Neji said next, the three following the same process as before, still reciting the words perfectly.

''I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!'' A child of ten or so screamed from the crowd and people laughed as the three repeated the tongue twister, Naruto exceptionally cheerfully, much to the little girl's delight.

''Torawo torunara torawo toru yori toriwo tore, toriwa otorini torawo tore.'' Naruto had to smile at this. Of course Sasuke would use that one. It was Itachi's favorite, after all. He must have taught it to Sasuke to perfect his pronunciation while he was still mastering the art of talking.

''Gorbachovshokichou!''

''Betty Botter bought some butter. But she said the butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter will make my batter better. So 'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter!''

''Hoy ya es ayer y ayer ya es hoy. Ya llegó el día, y hoy es hoy!''

''Nomu nara noru na, noru nara nomu na!''

''Fischers Fritze fischt frische Fische; Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritze.'' Naruto had to laugh as the tongue twisters started coming from all sides, in different languages and from all sorts of people. This was even more fun than he had thought it to be! He had forgotten what it felt like to relax. It felt like an eternity had passed since the last time he had enjoyed himself like this.

 _'This was definitely a good idea.'_

00009

 _'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,'_ Naruto thought with a sweat drop as he watched Sakura try to slur out normal words, let alone the tongue twisters. It had taken them two hours of none stop drinking for Sai and Sakura to finally succumb to the effects of alcohol and Naruto wasn't so proud as to deny the fact that he himself was quite tipsy, but he was taking it far better than these two. It occurred to him that this might have been Sai's first time drinking, what with the stoic way of life ROOT agents tended to live under Danzo, and that Sakura hadn't had any real alcohol tolerance even when she had been an ordinary human. But it was too late now, as Tenten had to drag Sakura along and Lee Sai.

''Are t-they going to be okay?'' The worried Hinata inquired, looking at their two friends with open concern.

''They should be, after they sober up.'' The blond replied, wondering if he should risk Sakura punching his daylights out by giving them Jiraiya's legendary hangover/sobering medicine that he got from the toads from Mount Myōboku. It would get rid of the effects of alcohol instantly, but the taste was horrid. The aftertaste was even worse. But it worked better than anything else in the world. Immortal or not, it will sober you up and defuse any hangover you might feel in an instant. Those frogs were some geniuses, making a potion like that. Too bad it still tasted like crap. "We should probably give them some water, possibly a painkiller and get them to some cooler air to speed up the process."

"But I like tis," Sai slurred drunkenly, already somehow half asleep, affectionately clinging to Lee as the mortal tried to drag him along. For Sai to show this much ... well, _anything_ , despite his training in ROOT, says quite a bit about his inexperience in drinking alcohol. He hadn't had that luck of having your godfather and aunt being seasoned drunks or your adopted father and uncle having the alcohol tolerances of gods. Izuna and Madara could easily drink even Immortals under the table, a skill they taught Naruto when he finally returned to the Uchiha Compound after he himself had become Immortal. Of course, it didn't work quite as well for him as it did for them, what with his chakra nature not being the Uchiha fire that allowed those two to burn most of the alcohol right out of their body before it even reached their bellies. A very useful skill for negotiation meetings and the such where whoever wanted your signature was ready to all but drown you in alcohol so you would sign whatever they presented you. Madara never got fooled into doing that. A good thing for Konohagakure that one of its founders could always stay completely sober and aware. "Tis a good feelin'."

Sasuke rolled his eyes from where he was walking on Naruto's right side, eying the stands. "It's pathetic, is what it is. I thought Immortals can't get drunk?"

Naruto snorted at the very incorrect assumption. "I said it's _harder_ , not _impossible_ for us to get drunk. Just look at Tsunade-baa-chan. She gets sloshed every day."

"So even when I become an Immortal, I'll still be prone to hangovers?" Kiba asked mournfully, his dream of drinking as much as he can without ever feeling the disgusting sensation of a hangover as a result throughly crushed. The oldest Immortal alive snorted again.

"I already told you you won't feel any of the aftereffects ever again. You'll be drunk for an hour or three and then you'll just sort of snap back to a sober state of mind. Only those who are terrible lightweights in life before becoming Immortals still feel a headache, but it's more of a phantom pain, or so I have been told." The blond explained with a shrug. "Besides, Immortal or not, it still help if you know how to properly drink."

"Are you sure you should be teaching that to these kids, brat?" An all too familiar cheeky voice asked from a nearby stall with sake and other alcoholic beverages, as well as a betting pool, and the teens all turned around to see the tall, grinning white haired, old looking Immortal man, a cup of sake in one hand and a betting ticket in another. "They're still too young to indulge in such things."

"Nonsense, Jiraiya." Orochimaru said from said man's left, nursing his own cup of alcohol and a ticket, obviously trying out his luck against the other Sannin. "If they are old enough to kill, they are old enough to drink and vaguer and all those other adult things."

Naruto stared at the two men suspiciously. "Just how long have you been drinking?"

"Since tis mornin', gaki." Tsunade revealed herself, too, a flush on her cheeks from all the liquor she had no doubt consumed. She was in the same state as her other two fellow Sannin, leaving all the teens except Naruto shocked by the three oldest and most powerful shinobi's behavior. "And what yer talkin' about, Oro, is _ninja_ conduct not ... not ... shinobi type of thin' or whatever."

"It still _is_ morning, Hokage-sama." Kiba uncertainly pointed out. And it was. There would be another hour or so before you could say it was midday.

"By the Sage, you guys were here since five in the morning, weren't you?" It might have been phrased as a question but it was anything but. Naruto knew these three well. They had been only ten when he had been born and he had all but grown up around them. He perhaps knows them the best out of all the people still among the living.

Sasuke stared incredulously at the three Legendary Sannin, or more specifically, Orochimaru. Out of all of the Sannin, he was the most rigid and cool and cold. The snake man had never been caught in a compromising position so far and there were rumors going around that he had forgotten all about being human and making human errors or indulging in things an ordinary human might consider fun. Jiraiya and Tsunade, the Uchiha had seen drunk more times than he cared to count. Seeing _Orochimaru_ wasted ... it was a whole other experience. He just could not reconcile this image with the image he has always had of this man, creepy and impersonal and seemingly emotionless other than the feeling of smug arrogance or the occasional flashes of weary fear whenever he had been in the same room as Itachi. The only thing that could shake up Orochimaru's unbeatable image had been his own truly undefeated Nii-san. Now it would seem alcohol can do it, too.

Today, he had seen six Immortals drink more than enough alcohol to kill seven people from alcohol poisoning each and yet only one had remained dignified when he had finished his drinks.

And this crazy day had only just begun.


	21. Chapter 21

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

"They're not half bad." Neji observed from behind the stage as he observed their competition for the festival concerts. The Six Paths Sage was twentieth on the current list and this was only the fifteenth performer out of fifty so far. "They might be a bit of competition."

"Don't wordy, my youthful friend!" Lee exclaimed from where he was polishing his drumsticks. "I am sure our passionate youth will outshine even their's!"

"What youth? Our lead singer is older than most of our competitors _combined_!" Kiba teased from where he was checking over his equipment, dodging the playful retribution swipe from said Immortal. "What? It's the truth!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes from where he was doing some last minute tunning to his guitar. ''You're the one that insisted on him singing the most, you moron. Stop complaining now. It's annoying.''

The Inuzuka huffed, sticking his tongue out at the last Uchiha. "Hmph. See if _I_ care about what _you_ think, duckass."

"What did you just call me?" The raven's brow was twitching and he looked about ready to set the dog lover on fire. Kiba, not sensing that he was in grave danger, just grinned at their lead guitarist. Thankfully, Sakura punched him before he could open his mouth and set the Uchiha off enough for him to waste precious chakra.

"Stop it, you guys!" Tenten groused, giving them both an unimpressed glare. "You're supposed to be a _band_ , a _team_. Band and teammates don't fight each other!"

"They do. Why? Because it's human nature."

"I don't t-think that's h-helping Shino." Hinata stuttered and blushed, not used to contradicting anyone. Such a shy girl she was. Naruto resolved to help her get out of her shell.

"I think it's best we concentrate on what we're doing here. School pride and all." The blond said with a wide grin, blue eyes sparkling. Sasuke stared at him for a moment and marveled at the fact that he could still smile so brightly despite all that he had been through. And Sasuke knew that what he had learned about his guardian so far was only the tip of the iceberg, so to say. Uzumaki Naruto was not going to be an easy enigma to solve, that was certain.

"I still can't believe I got roped into this," Neji muttered under his breathe but didn't utter another complaint. He obviously really did have too much respect for Naruto to complain. He had been the one that harassed them all the most about practicing.

"Come on! It's going to be _fun_!"

"I thought _you_ were against this the most." Sasuke pointed out to the ancient Immortal, who only shrugged.

"I get to preform with an Uchiha. Sure, I don't like singing in front of people who aren't the ones who raised me, but I agreed already, so what the hell, you know." The Kyuubi container said, a strange frown on his face, eyes red and focused out towards where the crowd was. He didn't seem to be paying them much attention anymore and Sasuke wondered what had suddenly gotten into him. Yes, Naruto acted stranger than most fifteen year olds, but then again, he _was_ an Immortal who had lived to see the rise of Konoha. Mabe he saw or sensed or heard something that they, the new, younger _mortal_ generations didn't. Only Sakura and Sai seemed as oblivious as the rest of them.

"What is it?" He asked when Naruto started moving his head around, as though trying to keep track of something that only he could see. It was far more unnerving than it had any right to be, but whatever unsettled someone like Naruto, a four hundred year old Immortal and Jinchuuriki, it had to be big and it had to be _bad_.

"Something is not right," the whisker scarred teen said, red eyes still slit like a demon cat's and still moving around, keeping track of whatever it was that had caught his attention. "I sensed a shinobi moving about in the crowd while concealing himself in a simple genjutsu. Why would they do that unless they were a threat or a spy?"

"You _sensed_ them?" Lee asked, not comprehending how someone can sense another person since he had problems with his own chakra ways and people doubted the probability of him becoming an Immortal. It _is_ chakra that immortalizes a shinobi, after all, and Lee's wasn't in the best of states. Besides, there were not many people who could _sense_ chakra in the way Naruto apparently was around here. Especially not with very large sensory ranges. Karin was perhaps the only exception, but people kept saying that was because of her Uzumaki blood. Perhaps Naruto had enough of his clan's blood in him that he can do it, too, despite how little he _looks_ like an Uzumaki.

"Yes, I am a sensor so I can sense them," the blond replied, his frown deepening as his head and eyes stopped moving. He had either lost track of this shinobi he was pursuing or the shinobi had stopped in one place. "Sensors are rare, especially born sensors. Some of the strongest sensors in the world come from the Uzumaki Clan and my Kaa-chan was an Uzumaki and even my Tou-chan was a born sensor. Add to that that I am the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and can enter Sage Mode, it makes me a good enough sensor that even the slightest shift in chakra for the next ten to twenty miles draws my attention. Whoever was concealing themselves from unwanted eyes had made himself all the more obvious to a sensor."

"Karin says she can sense emotions," Sakura said with a curious furrow of her brows. "Can you do that, too?"

"Only with Kurama's help. I'm not Uzumaki enough to get their full sensory range."

"So? How do they feel?" Sasuke questioned, activating his Sharingan and trying to see the chakra signature Naruto was sensing. He didn't have nearly as much success or luck as Hinata and Neji, who easily found the culprit with their Byakugan. If only he could activate that Mangekyo Sharingan again ... It had made the world so much brighter and _more in focus_. He wasn't sure if anything could hide from it.

"Mostly curious and bored, but also ... _sadistic_ , I guess. But there is no killing intent rolling off of them. Even civilians would have reacted if it were otherwise." The blond replied, eyes coming to rest on them. "I don't know what they are doing or where exactly they are, but they feel like they are on the left side of the lighting above the stage, so I want you all to be careful. We can't tell what they want and we can't be sure they won't attack once _we_ get up on the stage."

"Naruto-sama," Neji called, voice tight. "I think I know what he is doing."

"He?" Sakura questioned.

"What?" The Immortal asked next, focusing on the more important question. Before Neji could reply, though, the power went out, just as the bend on stage had finished their song. The crowd broke into murmurs as everything went dark save for the light of their phones. A few more panic prone people even screamed and started running in circles around their friends until said friends stopped them to try and calm them down. "Damn it." Naruto cursed, red eyes once again flaring and looking out into the dark.

The host of the concerts quickly ran off onto the main stage, flashlights in hand and pointed at him by stage hands so he would be visible to the crowd. He had a megaphone held up to his mouth as he called for their attention. "We are sorry to inform you that due to technical difficulties we cannot continue with the program-"

"What!?" Kiba and Sakura yelped in protest and the crowd started booing and hissing. There were many who even demanded for their money to be returned to them.

"We'll preform," Naruto called out to the host and the crowd cheered. He took the megaphone from the man and turned to look at the crowd. "Are you ready to rock, acoustic style!?" A cheer greeted him as he pumped a fist into the air. "Let's bring some emotion to the stage!" Another cheer as the crowd got pumped up. "I want to ask anyone who has either candles, matches or lighters to put their hands up and light us a fiery reflection of the night sky!" He turned towards the host and whispered something in his ear. He then ran over to his band mates while the host went on his way to go do what Naruto had told him. "Sasuke, get Itachi's acoustic guitar, Shino, you'll be playing on an acoustic piano, Lee you and the drums are okay." He rattled off and they watched as said instruments were set up on the stage. "Kiba, I know you have a DJ app on your phone. They have several Bluetooth mini speakers that will serve us well enough. Neji, I seriously hope you know how to play the bass."

"Of course," said Hyuuga replied with a positive nod of his head.

"Then we're good to go music wise. Sai, he turned towards said artist, an arched blond brow, as though in challenge. "Get Kakashi and make him use Chidori to overcharge a flashlight so that you can make a background for us. Nothing obnoxious or flashy. We're doing _Incomplete_ and the crowd's lights should be more than enough of a show maker, but, you know, better safe than sorry, dattebayo."

"Sweet!" Kiba crowed, rushing off to get his phone to prepare. The others quickly also scurried away to do as instructed, Sasuke having to hide so he can unseal Itachi's acoustic guitar from a standard storage scroll.

"Nice save," a lazy voice drawled and Naruto turned around to come face to face with none other than Nara Shikamaru, the lazy genius himself, dressed in a green shirt and tan pants, a bandanna wrapped around his right upper arm. "Have to admit, I wouldn't have thought of _that_ had I been put on the spot like that. Although I probably wouldn't have even tried."

"Too bothersome?" Naruto asked with a twinkle in his blue eyes. Shikamaru smirked and actually bothered to shrug. "Do you know who could have caused this?"

"None of ours," Shikamaru said with a frown. "Ino sensed a foreign presence moving about in the crowd and climbing up above the stage. We couldn't find anyone to tell them there was an intruder in time but Tsunade-sama is now informed."

Well, at least there will be guards everywhere now, Naruto thought wryly. He cocked his head to the side when he heard the Six Paths Sage being announced before looking towards his companion. "I have to go now."

"Good luck." The genius replied. "Ino, Chouji and I will keep an eye out for any threats. We won't let Uchiha get taken away."

"I don't think that's why they're here this time," was the grave answer but Naruto still nodded his thanks before turning around and going to the host of the concerts to take a megaphone from him and enter the stage with his band. The crowd cheered when the flashlights focused on them and the blond waved cheerily, as though he hadn't just been contemplating why the blackout was happening and that there might be a more sinister reason behind it. The Nara just arched an eyebrow at the switch from that serious persona that befitted a shinobi Naruto's real age and the happy go lucky attitude he displayed to fit his age by appearances. The shift was so fluid it was like water. He obviously had many years of experience in hiding his seriousness from everyone around him. Shikamaru wondered briefly what else that cheerful persona was hiding before going off to find his friends so he can keep his promise to the blond.

"You guys ready?" On the stage, as he waved to the crowd, Naruto asked of the mortal shinobi that had dragged him into this band thing in the first place.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Neji replied with a put upon sigh despite the somewhat ecstatic smile on his face. He had never done something like this before, due to the way the Hyuuga Clan were rather stiff and proper. Especially since Naruto left and they were all left at the mercy of the elders and their old ways.

"Let's do this!" Kiba added with a grin on his face, too, only it looked far more wild than anything any Hyuuga could produce. Then again, Inuzuka _were_ considered half-dog by all those who know of them as shinobi.

"Are you ready!?" The Uzumaki yelled to the crowd in the megaphone, earning a massive cheer from the gathered people. "I can't hear you! I said, are you ready!?" The cheer was even louder this time, the masses getting even more pumped up as each person joined into the screams and clapping. ''Let's do this! Ladies and gentlemen, please break out the tissues and feel free to sing along!''

On cue, Shino started playing the piano for the intro with Neji following in the background with the contrabass soon after.

'' _Empty spaces fill me up with hopes_

 _Distant faces with no place left to go_

 _Without you within me I can't find no rest_

 _Where I'm going is anybody's guess_

 _I tried to go on like I never knew you_

 _I'm awake but my world is half asleep_

 _I pray for this heart to be unbroken_

 _But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_ '' Naruto sang with emotion and Kiba and Sasuke joined in now, picking up the beat as Lee started hitting his drums. He was aware his band mates were looking at him in surprise but he paid it no attention. This was not a song he wanted to mess up, especially as seeing who it was that had introduced him to it by way of being their favorite, three years ago. He still remembered coming into town to discretely check on the brothers, only for him to find the older one singing it in a local bar that had karaoke nights. Naruto knew his voice wasn't the best for this song, definitely not as suitable as his older charge's was, but he had practiced this song when he was by himself until he got it as perfect as he could.

'' _Voices tell me I should carry on_

 _But I am swimming in an ocean all alone_

 _Baby, my baby, it's written on your face_

 _You still wonder if we made a big mistake_ '' What made the song so good was the amount of emotion one could put into it and how many people it can apply to. He knew it can be for a lover, to a brother, sang for a sister, meant for a friend, a tribute to a parent or a partner, it didn't matter. It was flexible enough that you could chose who you are singing for and Itachi had used that to his advantage as well as somehow knowing when Naruto would come back for a check in and he had snag it knowing Naruto was listening, a sort of last ditch effort to make him stay with him and Sasuke. Naruto had stayed for the song and had fled that bar as though the hounds of hell were running after him or as though the Akatsuki were a mere street away and not armed, ready for the taking.

Itachi taunted him with the song every time he had checked on the boys since, even with his lack of presence, as Sasuke had come to playing that song every time he thought of his brother.

'' _I tried to go on like I never knew you_

 _I'm awake but my world is half asleep_

 _I pray for this heart to be unbroken_

 _But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_

 _I don't mean to drag it on_

 _But I can't seem to let you go_

 _I don't want to make you face this world alone_

 _I want to let you go_ '' He wondered if the younger Uchiha will forgive him for dragging Itachi into this and bringing up the memories. But they needed to play a song, a song Itachi was well known for loving so he can somehow fish out whoever had come here, the stranger who dared come here when _all three Sannin and Naruto himself_ were attending to look over the last known living Uchiha. Besides, the song was a personal favorite, too, and he had known all six of them knew it by heart, which could be told in how Lee never missed a beat, with how Neji passionately struck each wire of his contrabass, how Shino never hesitated in hitting a chord or the way Kiba didn't need much effort to deal with the song and how Sasuke was actually playing with his eyes closed, although Naruto suspected that last one was to prevent any tears from slipping or maybe his eyes were flashing red? It would be rather disastrous if he showed his Sharingan off right now, in front of all of these people. Naruto hoped whoever it was that had done this, infiltrated Konoha when security was so tight, were not a sensor and would not sense the rise in chakra if Sasuke actually did accidentally activate his Kekkei Genkai.

The crowd was definitely enjoying their preference and Naruto could sense that they had touched more than a few hearts. As he had requested from the crowd, they had all put up as many matches and lighters above their heads and were swaying and singing in tune with the song. With his eyes half-lidded so they don't see the red of Kurama's enhancement to his vision in the dark, Naruto could see the way a good number of them wiped away their tears and let out sighs as the song continued playing. Even Kurama was humming along in the back of the Jinchuuriki's head, being careful not to be too loud so as not to throw Naruto off. A sort of serenity had fallen over them all, a solemnity that had not been promised by the way he had pumped up the crowd earlier on.

Still, as he sang the last few verses, there were cheers of approval that followed the end of the song.

'' _I tried to go on like I never knew you_

 _I'm awake but my world is half asleep_

 _I pray for this heart to be unbroken_

 _But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_

 _Incomplete_ ''

Sasuke kept staring at their lead singer as the song finished, wondering why that song of all possible had been the one he had decided on. Yes, it was a great song, but it was also one he would rather not contemplate about. There were a lot of memories it had brought right back up and Sasuke wasn't sure he was very happy with that. For even as he listened to Naruto sing and the other instruments play, he had heard the overlapping of only a single guitar playing in the background as his brother's voice sang the song to him when he was younger.

But, as he looked at Naruto, bowing to the crowd, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Without much thought, his eyes flared up into the Sharingan red and he looked over there, only for his eyes to meet a pair of weird purple eyes, concentrated circles around a small black pupil before the person vanished in a move Sasuke knew to be a very well preformed Shunshin.

The way Naruto stood tense in front of him, his own eyes still red from Kurama's influence, whoever it had been spelled bad news for them all.


	22. Chapter 22

**Precious Treasure of the Uchiha**

 **Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?**

They won the competition, completely trouncing the other bands despite them being the only ones who had played on acoustic instruments and without power. Through Kakashi's and Sai's help, their background pictures were a marvel that had remained humble and there was no unnecessary flashiness or flare to it. A short story about loss complimented their song perfectly and the atmosphere had been far more electrified after their performance than any other, so the winner was clear and they had been handed a small trophy for their win that was now proudly displayed in the trophy locker of their school. Ino even congratulated Naruto herself before striking up the first normal conversation she had with the ancient blond and they became friend, Ino-Shika- Cho and the group that revolved around the Six Paths Sage.

Fitting, seeing how much their fates were intertwined either way, seeing as their shinobi families were all more or less allies and Naruto had in some way gotten them all indebted to him at some point anyway. They even started coming to Sasuke's trainings with Naruto, watching as the blond explained as much as he can about the Sharingan without actually having it to give him examples of what he's supposed to be doing. It was fascinating to see how much Naruto pushed Sasuke to the limits, training him in speed and strength so he can match the Sharingan's prowess and then showing him how to use it with better efficiency, using less chakra and responding better. Within a month of training with the blond, Sasuke was now able to use the Sharingan ten times better than when Kakashi had been trying to teach him. For all that Kakashi had been using it for a much longer period of time, he had no idea of the Sharingan's true limits since he had gotten his and wasn't born with it. Even Kakashi came to a few lessons to learn more about the eye he had in order to use it better and not exhaust himself so easily when using it.

What eluded both Sasuke and Kakashi was the infamous Mangekyo Shairngan, the doujutsu that had allowed Sasuke to use those black flames, the Amaterasu, a technique that was an _Immortal killer_. Naruto said that each Mangekyo had a different pattern and a different power, although some times there were no unique powers to the eyes. Amaterasu, powerful as it was, was one of the most common powers a Mangekyo user can use, if they were strong enough, since it was quite draining. Itachi had been able to use it and had also had a unique power of his own, so it was possible Sasuke will have a unique power for his own eyes, too. Then there were other cases, like one having a unique power but not being able to use the more common powers the Mangekyo provided but Naruto didn't give examples in names, of either Uchiha or techniques. Kakashi knew one of the people Naruto was talking about, as they had died not long before the Massacre had taken place and the wound of that death was still raw, only made worse when most of the rest of the Uchiha clan followed son after, but he had no idea who else could have had such powers. Naruto even told them that it was possible for an Uchiha to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan but to have no other new powers except a better vision of chakra patterns and a stronger genjutsu, which was a lot more than anyone knew about the Mangekyo other than the few Uchiha who have managed to get it over the years.

Naruto had taken up the habit of disappearing every few days for hours on end, though, and that had at first put the Shinobi Alliance on edge. Then they all sighed in relief when they realized he was simply going to the Ryuchi Cave to speak with Manda about something the purple snake would not tell even Orochimaru or Kabuto about but they all figured they knew what it was about and just shook their heads. Everyone knew that Naruto still searched for Itachi and believed it to be a futile endeavor but they knew better than to say anything anymore. They did wonder where he got the fonds for his search but they also knew better than to ask that. Naruto had a lot of influence since he had been around for so long and some of that influence can't have come the right way by means of law. They figured they didn't want to know and just let it be.

The school was the only place people were starting to get annoyed with his disappearances, especially since he still managed to have passing grades. He didn't bother too much, contending himself with Cs and Bs with the occasional A before ignoring the teachers outright and doing whatever it was that he thought was more important, such as searching for the person who had caused the blackout during the concert.

They were keeping it on the know and so far, only Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Kakashi, Yamato, Danzo and Naruto were the ones to be in that select group. The blond wasn't very happy with Danzo also being kept up to date regarding this matter, but since he was in charge of the organization meant for protection against such situations, he couldn't kick him out of these meetings either. Besides, as much as he hated Danzo and suspected him to be involved in a dozen or so crimes he still couldn't solidly connect him to - including that certain plane crash that had changed so many things - he had to admit he was a formidable ally in all matters revolving Pein and his organization. They needed as many men on this case as was possible, especially since it was revealed two more of the organization, Akatsuki, were prowling around and Naruto had other obligations to turn to.

Mainly, one very unexpected school educational field trip to a nearby temple that was obligatory. Kiba spent the entire ride to the temple teasing him about his sulking from the seat behind his until Sasuke turned on him a Sharingan glare fierce enough to cower the usually shameless boy into silence.

The Uchiha was actually the only one excited about this trip, as the temple they were visiting was actually the Uchiha Clan's Nakano Shrine, built here a decades ago when the Uchiha moved with the rest of Konoha's population into hiding. It was one of the rare few places that might be able to tell him something more about his long family history now that all of them were gone except the one adopted member and himself. The books in New Konoha's archives and in the Uchiha's library simply wasn't enough and Sasuke was still having difficulty getting stories out of his guardian. For all that he and Naruto had gotten closer, the gap between them was still almost impossibly wide. Sasuke found it was quite unfair that unlike with any of the previous Uchiha, Naruto at times didn't even seem to be giving him a chance to become important to the blond and that irked him more than words could explain. Still, Sasuke was just as stubborn as his guardian and that usually was the reason some of their discussions became heated and very loud with insults being thrown around like rice at a wedding.

He also didn't like how one such argument had happened just the day before the excursion and now he was forced to sit with Kiba while Naruto shared the seat with Sai. To his left and forwards, Ino and Sakura were turned around to engage their other two kunoichi in conversation, behind him Lee was shouting about youth and the marvelous adventure this trip could be while Neji tried futilely to get him to shut up and in front of Naruto, Shikamaru was sleeping and Chouji was making an ungodly amount of noise as he ate his snacks. For a moment, Sasuke envied their resident Aburame, since their Clan had an emergency meeting and he couldn't attend. He was spared Mizuki's not-well-enough-disguised-disgusted speech about the temple and Iruka's excited chatter about their monks traditions. He was straining his ears to hear the corrections Naruto was muttering under his breath, but it was as futile as silencing Lee.

Honestly, the last known Uchiha hated fighting with his teacher slash guardian. There was something about the ancient shinobi that drew him in and at the same time set him at ease. He had only ever felt so safe to sleep in his house since the massacre with his brother close by as he felt now when Naruto stayed the night with Kurama if their training was particularly tiring or lasted too long. In a sense, Naruto had given Sasuke back the sense of family and so the Uchiha wasn't exactly willing to let that go.

But he also hated how secretive Naruto could be. He kept going to the Ryuchi Cave with a frequency that worried and intrigued Sasuke yet no one else paid any attention to. It was as though it didn't matter that one of the strongest and most dangerous Immortals was off so often, spending hours or days at a time doing only Kami knows what. There were times he would come back so tired that he completely forgot that he had returned in warmer clothes than he had left in and was then forced to avoid questions or make up excuses. Sasuke did not like being lied to.

What he hated most about their fights was the fear that Naruto might just give up on him after one. From what he had learned so far about Naruto's interactions with any and all Uchihas before him, Naruto had never been treated before how Sasuke was treating him. Not by an Uchiha, at least. Every single Uchiha since Uchiha Madara had treated the blond like a precious treasure and had in turn had enjoyed the luxury of Naruto's love and care. So far, Sasuke mostly only got just little glimpses of that love and care and it made him mighty jealous of his dead relatives, which in turn had left him feeling quite ashamed. He had spoken with Jiraiya about it, but the old hermit had just laughed his worries off, saying it was a normal thing among his Clan and that he should not worry before clapping him on the back and changing the subject to the latest mission he had just come back from.

Sasuke also missed seeing him and Kakashi around more often, but this Pein guy had them all pretty much strung up and every high ranking shinobi was needed to deal with him. It at least gave Sasuke a few missions of his own to do. Nothing overly difficult but he was just glad to be going on missions at all. He had never realized just how much there was for shinobi to do. He had never thought so many ninja would be spiteful of the new so called modern system that had exiled them from their villages that held so many of their origins. He had never expected to see so many different kuchiyose left to harm humans and destroy their settlements. Sasuke can honestly say he had never expected to fight _fellow shinobi_ in order to save an oblivious town of normal people who will never thank him for risking life and limb for their lives.

Going on missions with Sakura and Sai was an adventure and a half, but it was also so dangerous that Sasuke sometimes came back to his home a bloody mess that had Naruto - when he unfailably waited up for him, getting in with a key Sasuke was sure his brother had left him with - cursing up a storm as he rushed to take care of his wounds, which are mostly already healed by Sakura until only bruises and dried blood - his own or someone else's - that just had to be cleaned off.

"Are we there yet, Naruto-kun!?" Sasuke was brought out of his musings and sulking by Lee all but leaping over him to try and shake the blond Jinchuuriki, who jerked back on instinct, away from the reaching hands. The entire buss turned to watch in interest as Kiba batted away at the older teen, Neji muttering to himself how embarrassing it all was and Sasuke mourned not being able to stay back with Shino.

"Not yet, Lee-kun," Iruka-sensei called from the front of the buss with a disapproving frown. "We still have another ten minutes to go!"

"But youth cannot wait any longer! We must use every last minute of it!" The green clad teen insisted and his friends groaned as he flew into a frenzy for the next ten minutes. When the buss finally stopped in front of the entrance to the temple's complex, there was not a single soul who didn't scramble out as soon as their cramped legs would allow.

Sasuke found it suspicious that Naruto kept carefully to the back of the class, away from Mizuki and the temple guards.

The gates to the grounds themselves were already a sight to behold, made in the archaic style of feudal Japan with its red tiles and white pillars and big, heavy wooden and metal doors. Behind the barely opened gate, you could see dozens if not a hundred or more steps long stairway made of some white stone or maybe marble - could be, as marble didn't heat up that easily and Uchiha were very much fire oriented so it made sense for their shrines and houses to be equipped to withstand fire and extreme heat - chiseled with care and precision and kept clean on a daily basis. More smaller, wooden 'gates' were stationed on ever tenth step or so, creating a very beautiful image as the reddish brown wood of the pillars contrasted against the green vegetation on either side of the road. The trees were thick, tall and old here, almost as though never touched before by human hands and there were wild flowers growing right beside the stairs, only a wooden hand railing separating the pretty flora from any curious visitors who'd like to pluck a flower or two. The sun was high in the sky and shining down on them with hot rays while a cool breeze flowed by, creating a peaceful atmosphere supported by the chirping of various birds.

Sasuke was surprised to note there were more crows, ravens, eagles and hawks here than any other species, but that made sense since such top hunters were around. He even saw a napping owl in one of the trees! It was as though only birds of prey lived in these forests. The wild animals weren't afraid to venture close to the roads, going as far as to use them themselves, staring at the newly arrived humans with bored interest for a moment before going back to their own business, whatever may that be. The most shocking thing was that there were also so many cats! House cats and street cats as well as wild cats and _big_ wild cats. The Uchiha and his fellow classmates watched in fascination as a tiger poked its head out of the door with a black cat on its back, also peeking out at the new humans, before both felines lost interest and the jungle cat prowled off.

Suddenly, they were not sure if they were so eager to be out of the buss.

"What do you mean we can't go in!?" Mizuki's snarl drew their attention back to the guards at the gate and what must have been a monk of the temple if his robes were anything to go by. "We made arrangements with the agency and paid the fee in advance and everything! You can't not let us in when we paid!"

"Hey, Mizuki, calm down," Iruka tried to placate his college, but that only put him in a worse mood as he rounded on his friend.

"They robbed us blind and you're telling me to _calm down_!?"

"We do not accept visitors, sir." The monk told him coldly, running his eyes up and down his body and finding Mizuki lacking, much to his further ire. "We never did. Someone _did_ rob you blind, but it wasn't anyone from this temple or that had any connection to it what so ever. This is private property and you can't step on it without permission. The animals would chew you up and spit you out before anything else."

"Was that a _threat_?" The albino challenged with a growl, eyes flashing as Iruka held him back by his shoulders.

"It's the _rules_." They were locked in a long stare-down, almost of epic proportions as there seemed to be lightning between their eyes, contempt and displeasure and killing intent. That is, at least, until a small girl, barely into her teen years with light brown hair, dark blue eyes and strange markings on one cheek that looked kind of like kanji but not quite, burst around the monk and hurtled straight into the group of students, a large leopard cub bounding right after her. The students all screamed and hampered out of the way, the few shinobi in the group drawing their weapons and readying to attack-

"Naruto-nii-sama! You're back, you're back, you're back!" The child cheered as she launched herself at the hiding blond, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into his chest with a giant smile. "Will you teach me a new jutsu? A new move? Oh, how about telling me a new story! Or we can go hiking and camping and I'll introduce you to the new ninneko and the baby tigers!" The girl kept on talking a mile a second before squalling another "Naruto-nii-sama" and just nuzzling his midsection as his hand came automatically to ruffle her hair.

"Naruto-sama, glad to have you back." The monk from before greeted, suddenly all smiles and warmth, completely ignoring the two teachers as he came to give Naruto a little bow. "What brings you here, if I might inquire?"

"A visit." Was all the whisker scarred teen replied, aware of the stares that were being directed at him.

"A visit?" The two residents of the temple asked in confusion and Naruto snapped out with his arm to grab Sasuke's shirt collar and drag him until they stood shoulder to shoulder and the blond smiled a beaming grin when four pairs of eyes widened.

"Yeah, with the heir." He chirped sunnily and watched with glee and resignation as the two guards, monk, little girl and leopard all fell into formal bows before him and the shocked Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke-dono, we welcome you to your heritage."

Said teen turned black eyes to the now sheepishly laughing blond as the entire class' jaws dropped.

"I can explain?"


End file.
